§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he expects a further reduction in perinatal mortality in 1977; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoyleOur policies aim to secure continuing reduction in perinatal mortality, and I hope that this will occur in 1977.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services if he will list the perinatal and infant mortality rates in 1976 for England, for each regional health authority, and for each area health authority, respectively.
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§ Mr. MoyleThe rates—deaths under one year per 1,000 live births, and stillbirths and deaths under one week per 1,000 total births—are as follows:
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1976 Infant mortality rate Perinatal mortality rate ENGLAND 14.2 17.6 Northern RHA 15.1 19.1 Cleveland AHA 16.0 21.6 Cumbria AHA 14.1 17.7 Durham AHA 16.4 17.1 Northumberland AHA 14.9 18.0 Gateshead AHA 14.0 19.3 Newcastle upon Tyne AHA 16.9 19.5 Southern Tyneside AHA 13.6 21.8 Sunderland AHA 12.5 18.1 Northern Tyneside AHA 15.6 20.1 Yorkshire RHA 15.0 18.4 Humberside AHA 14.0 16.9 North Yorkshire AHA 13.6 16.3 Bradford AHA 16.1 20.8 Calderdale AHA 18.8 19.0 Kirklees AHA 17.8 22.3 Leeds AHA 15.2 18.2 Wakefield AHA 12.5 17.0 Trent RHA 14.7 19.2 Derbyshire AHA 15.3 18.5 Leicestershire AHA 14.7 21.4 Lincolnshire AHA 16.1 20.7 Nottinghamshire AHA 14.5 16.9 Barnsley AHA 15.4 22.4 Doncaster AHA 15.0 18.7 Rotherham AHA 12.6 18.6 Sheffield AHA 13.2 19.1 East Anglian RHA 11.6 13.9 Cambridgeshire AHA 12.1 15.1 Norfolk AHA 12.0 14.5 Suffolk AHA 10.8 12.0 NW Thames RHA 13.9 16.9 Bedfordshire AHA 13.0 16.1 Hertfordshire AHA 13.0 17.3 Barnet AHA 13.2 14.0 Brent and Harrow AHA 13.2 17.9 Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow AHA 16.1 17.3 Hillingdon AHA 14.5 18.8 Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster AHA 14.6 16.1 NE Thames RHA 13.4 16.6 Essex AHA 11 .5 15.8 Barking and Havering AHA 13.3 17.0 Camden and Islington AHA 17.8 11.0 City and East London AHA 16.0 19.1 Enfield and Haringey AHA 12.9 18.8 Redbridge and Waltham Forest AHA 13.4 16.4 SE Thames RHA 14.8 17.4 East Sussex AHA 17.1 19.1 Kent AHA 13.9 16.1 Bromley AHA 14.4 15.9 Greenwich and Bexley AHA 13.7 18.2 Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham AHA 15.7 18.8
1976 Infant mortality rate Perinatal mortality rate SW Thames RHA 12.7 14.8 Surrey AHA 11.8 14.5 West Sussex AHA 12.9 13.9 Croydon AHA 14.7 17.0 Kingston & Richmond AHA 12.3 16.0 Wandsworth, Merton and Sutton AHA 13.0 14.4 Wessex RHA 12.7 15.1 Dorset AHA 12.4 15.4 Hampshire AHA 12.6 14.4 Isle of Wight AHA 13.7 19.9 Wiltshire AHA 13.0 16.2 Oxford RHA 12.9 13.8 Berkshire AHA 14.7 13.3 Buckinghamshire AHA 13.5 16.3 Northamptonshire AHA 12.6 15.2 Oxfordshire AHA 10.1 10.3 South Western RHA 12.9 16.1 Avon AHA 12.7 16.5 Cornwall and Scilly AHA 14.4 21.3 Devon AHA 13.6 14.1 Gloucestershire AHA 11.3 14.2 Somerset AHA 12.4 16.8 West Midlands RHA 15.7 21.1 Hereford and Worcester AHA 14.5 19.8 Salop AHA 15.4 23.3 Staffordshire AHA 15.6 21.4 Warwickshire AHA 15.0 21.5 Birmingham AHA 16.6 21.0 Coventry AHA 14.8 20.3 Dudley AHA 13.8 23.7 Sandwell AHA 15.9 22.5 Solihull AHA 13.5 15.5 Walsall AHA 15.8 18.6 Wolverhampton AHA 20.5 23.5 Mersey RHA 14.2 19.5 Cheshire AHA 15.6 19.4 Sefton AHA 13.8 21.1 Liverpool AHA 14.0 21.4 St. Helens AHA 13.7 20.5 Wirral AHA 12.0 14.1 North Western RHA 15.7 18.7 Bolton AHA 16.8 20.3 Bury AHA 10.6 14.0 Manchester AHA 17.1 21.3 Oldham AHA 14.9 16.2 Rochdale AHA 20.7 22.9 Salford AHA 17.9 19.1 Stockport AHA 15.4 19.6 Tameside AHA 13.5 16.3 Trafford AHA 15.2 18.5 Wigan AHA 13.8 18.0 Lancashire AHA 15.5 18.2
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services on his estimate for births in 1980, 1985 and 1990, to what level the perinatal mortality rate must be reduced in each year in order to restrict the number of deaths to that in 1976; and if he expects to achieve such a reduction; and if he will make a statement.
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§ Mr. MoyleIf the numbers of perinatal deaths remained the same in future years as in 1976 and if live births achieved the projected numbers in the latest official forecasts—1980, 570,000; 1985, 754,800 1990, 794,000—the resulting perinatal mortality rates—stillbirths and deaths under one week of age per 1,000 total births—in England and Wales would be as follows:
1980 … 18.2 1985 … 13.8 1990 … 13.1 The corresponding rates over recent years have been:
1951 … 38.2 1956 … 36.7 1961 … 32.0 1966 … 26.3 1971 … 22.3 1976 … 17…7 (Provisional) If this trend continues, the related numbers of perinatal deaths should not exceed the 1976 level during the projected period.
§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services what research priorities in the field of infant and perinatal mortality have been recommended by his Department's Children's Research Liaison Group; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. MoyleThe Working Party on Infant and Perinatal Mortality and Morbidity, chaired by Professor J. N. Morris, has reported to the Children's Research Liaison Group; and a copy of its report has been placed in the Library. The working party has made a number of recommendations for research, including: that a representative sample survey of health in infancy should be mounted; that a feasibility study should be commissioned of possible intervention during infancy aimed at lowering post-perinatal mortality and morbidity; that a programme of studies on parenting should be considered; that there should be studies of communication between parents and professional staff; that research in perinatal epidemiology should be supported; and that a multi-disciplinary two-day meeting on parents with special problems should be held. The research liaison group has accepted the report, and the recommendations will be taken into account in planning research programmes. It must be borne in mind that the report did not cost the recommendations and that the timing of52W implementation will depend on finding suitable research contractors, as well as on the availability of funds for research.