ESTIMATED APPROXIMATE HOME DEATH-RATE.
In estimating the probable accuracy of statistical data in which there may be both excesses and deficiencies, sources of error are diminished by largeness in the numbers employed in striking averages. Bearing this in mind, and after considering the objections brought against the accuracy of the figures, there seems no reason for rejecting the Registrar-General’s average total mortality among lying-in women in England of 5·1 per 1,000, as affording a sufficiently close approximation to the present real death-rate among lying-in women delivered at home, for all practical purposes of comparison with the death-rates in lying-in hospitals.
DEATH-RATES IN LYING-IN INSTITUTIONS.
We shall next show approximately what are the death-rates in establishments for lying-in women.
We will give an abstract of mortality statistics for a number of these institutions, the general results of which may be stated as follows:—
In eight military lying-in hospitals (Table IV.), in which 5575 deliveries took place, in periods of from 2 to 12 years, there were 50 deaths (excluding a death before admission)—a death-rate of 8·8 per 1,000.
| Table IV.—Return of the Number of Admissions for Parturition, and Deaths occurring in the undermentioned Women’s Hospitals (Military). (Supplied by the Director-General, Army Medical Department.) | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Station | Period | No. of Deliveries | Causes of Death | Total Deaths | ||||||||||||||
| Puerperal Feve and Peritonitis, Pyæmia, Phlebitis, &c. | Scarlatina | Puerperal Convulsions | Hæmorrhage, Effects of | Ruptured Uterus | Syncope and Exhaustion | Premature Labour and Adherent Placenta | Craniotomy | Inversion of Uterus | Embolism | Metritis | Pneumonia and Bronchitis | Phthisis | Dropsy | Cause not recorded | ||||
| Devonport | April 1861 to Dec. 1869 | 158 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||||||||
| Colchester | 1865 to Oct. 187 | 252 | ||||||||||||||||
| Portsmouth | 1861 to Dec. 1869 | 302 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Aldershot | 1857 to Dec. 1869 | 3,028 | 14 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1[[3]] | 2 | 1 | 1 | 31 | ||||
| Shorncliffe | Up to Dec. 1869 | 702 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | ||||||||||||
| Chatham | Dec. 1863 to Dec. 1869 | 342 | 2 | 1[[4]] | 3 | |||||||||||||
| Woolwich | Nov. 1863 to Dec. 1869 | 751 | 5[[5]] | 1 | 1 | 1 | 8 | |||||||||||
| Curragh | 1868 and 1869 | 40 | ||||||||||||||||
| Total | 5,575 | 21 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 51 | |
In Liverpool workhouse lying-in wards (Table V.), with an approximate number of 6,396 deliveries in 13 years, there were 58 deaths from all causes—a mortality of 9·06 per 1,000.
| Table V.—Statistics of Midwifery Wards in Liverpool Workhouse for Thirteen Years, 1858–70 inclusive. (Abstracted from data supplied by Dr. Barnes, Liverpool.) | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Approximate Total Deliveries | Causes of Death | Total Deaths | |||||||||||||||||
| Puerperal Peritonitis | Puerperal Fever | Metritis | Phlegmasia Dolens | Convulsions | Debility and Exhaustion | Obstructed Labour | Hæmorrhage | Rupture of Uterus | Typhus and Relapsing Fever | Measles | Pneumonia | Laryngitis | Phthisis | Heart Disease | Nephritic Disease and Dropsy | Jaundice and Bowel Disease | Not Stated (Inquest) | ||
| 6396 | 16 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 58 |
And in 27 London workhouse infirmaries (Table VI.), amongst which deaths took place, having 9,411 deliveries in five years, there were 93 deaths from all causes. The death-rate was 9·8 per 1,000.[[6]]