HL Deb 08 July 1986 vol 478 cc271-80WA
Baroness Vickers

asked Her Majesty's Government:

How many cot deaths there were of infants aged under 1 year in England and Wales in 1984 and 1985 in total and for each month of the year.

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department of Health and Social Security (Baroness Trumpington)

The table attached shows the number of deaths under 1 year of age with any mention of cot death, sudden infant death syndrome or similar term on the death certificate, irrespective of whether it did or did not appear as the underlying cause of death, for England and Wales by month of occurrence for 1984 and 1985. Figures for 1985 are provisional, due to delays between the death and its subsequent registration while coroners complete their inquiries. Infant deaths which may have been sudden and unexpected, but where no mention of 'sudden' or 'cot' death or similar term was made on the death certificate, cannot be separately identified reliably.

NUMBER OF DEATHS UNDER 1 YEAR WITH ANY MENTION OF COT DEATH BY MONTH OF OCCURRENCE 1984 AND 1985
England and Wales
Month of occurrence 1984 1985*
January 158 146
February 161 123
March 176 112
April 90 130
May 74 94
June 79 69
July 49 63
August 38 47
September 70 80
October 118 108
November 99 163
December 127 151
January-December 1,239 1,286
*Provisional

Baroness Vickers

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether they will publish the numbers of deaths registered as cot death, sudden infant death syndrome or in similar terms in each health region in England and Wales in total, and subdivided in socio-economic class of the parents and legitimacy for the years 1983, 1984 and 1985; and also the number and percentage of live births in each socio-economic class and illegitimate live births for each region for the same years, 1983, 1984 and 1985.

Baroness Trumpington

The available information for England and Wales is given in the attached tables. These show the number of deaths registered with any mention of 'cot death', 'sudden infant death syndrome' or similar term on the death certificate, irrespective of whether it did nor did not appear as the underlying cause of death, by social class, legitimacy and regional health authority of usual residence of mother for England and Wales for 1983 and 1984. These figures are derived from a procedure which links deaths with the relevant births; the 1985 linked data are not yet available, but figures for regional health authorities only are shown from unlinked data for that year. Figures for cot deaths of all illegitimate babies have been supplied for 1983 and 1984 as these are available from the linked file, but accurate social class information concerning infants of single parents is not collected. Infant deaths which may have been sudden or unexpected, but where no mention of 'sudden' or 'cot' death or similar term was made on the death certificate, cannot reliably be separately identified. Figures for live births are given by social class, legitimacy and regional health authorities for 1983, 1984 and 1985.

TABLE 1
Number of cot deaths(any mention)by regional health authority, social class and legitimacy, 1983 England and Wales
Regional Health Authority All Legitimate by social class Illegitimate
All I II IIIN IIIM IV V *Other All
England and Wales 1308 984 44 168 81 334 182 100 75 324
Northern 66 49 .— 7 5 17 11 7 2 17
Yorkshire 112 81 5 11 6 25 20 7 7 31
Trent 128 89 6 16 3 30 16 16 2 39
East Anglian 54 38 3 6 6 11 5 — 7 16
North West Thames 98 73 3 15 8 22 14 4 7 25
North East Thames 81 66 2 21 4 22 8 6 3 15
South East Thames 91 71 3 17 4 21 20 5 1 20
South West Thames 67 49 2 14 4 18 6 1 4 18
Wessex 90 75 3 8 6 27 13 7 11 15
Oxford 72 53 3 11 4 22 9 1 3 19
South western 101 89 4 13 8 30 11 10 13 12
West Midlands 110 86 2 9 10 34 19 8 4 24
Mersey 66 48 2 7 4 17 9 9 — 18
North Western 108 73 5 5 7 27 12 14 3 35
Wales 63 43 1 7 2 11 9 5 8 20
*Other includes residual social class groups, eg. Armed Forces, students, housewives and those whose occupation was in adequately described.
1. Regional health authority—usual residence of mother.
2. Legitimacy —legitimacy at birth.
3. Social class is derived from father's occupation as recorded on the child's death certificate.
4. Information similar to that in 3 above is not available for all death so of illegitimate infants.
5. As these figures are derived from a linked file they may differ slightly from those previously published.
6. England and Wales total includes deaths of infants whose mothers are normally resident outside England and Wales.

Number of cot deaths (any mention) by regional health authority, social class and legitimacy, 1983 England and Wales
Regional Health Authority All Legitimate by social class Illegitimate
All I II IIIN IIIM IV V *Other All
England and Wales 1228 876 45 144 74 306 133 99 75 352
Northern 63 44 2 7 4 3 7 9 2 19
Yorkshire 119 84 5 12 5 32 17 7 6 35
Trent 116 75 1 12 5 29 15 11 2 41
East Anglian 46 35 1 4 2 10 7 5 6 11
North West Thames 73 59 4 14 7 20 5 4 5 14
North East Thames 95 71 2 10 8 23 11 8 9 24
South East Thames 90 55 6 9 2 19 5 7 7 35
South West Thames 66 55 8 10 7 16 7 4 3 11
Wessex 79 64 3 6 6 25 7 6 11 15
Oxford 61 51 6 10 4 16 2 7 6 10
South Western 85 68 — 16 5 26 10 4 7 17
West Midlands 121 74 2 13 6 24 18 6 5 47
Mersey 56 34 2 7 4 13 4 3 1 22
North western 110 71 1 9 4 28 14 12 3 39
Wales 48 36 2 5 5 12 4 6 2 12
*Other includes residual social class groups, eg. Armed Forces ,students ,house wives and those whose occupation was in adequately described.
1. Regional health authority—usual residence of mother.
2. Legitimacy—legitimacy at birth.
3. Social class is derived from father's occupation as recorded on the child's death certificate.
4. Information similar to that in 3 above is not available for all deaths of illegitimate infants.
5. As these figures are derived from a linked file they may differ slightly from those previously published.

TABLE 2
Number of cot deaths (any mention) by regional health authority, 1985: England and Wales
Regional Health Authority of usual residence of mother Mentions
*England and Wales 1,301
Northern 57
Yorkshire 115
Trent 118
East Anglian 55
North West Thames 87
North East Thames 84
South East Thames 105
South West Thames 71
Wessex 79
Oxford 64
South Western 82
West Midlands 127
Mersey 62
North Western 120
Wales 72
*England and Wales total includes deaths of infants whose mothers are normally resident outside England and Wales.

TABLE 3
Numbers of live births by Social Class, Legitimacy and Regional Health Authority of usual residence of mother England and Wales 1983– 1985
Regional Health All live Legitimate births by social class of father* Illegiti.
Authorities Births All I II IIIN IIIM IV V Other† Mate
1983 Numbers of births
Wales 35,494 30,349 1,730 5,260 2,920 11,620 4,770 2,970 1,070 5,145
Northern 39,117 32,604 1,800 5,530 3,090 12,900 5,280 3,290 720 6,513
Yorkshire 46,507 38,658 2,310 7,800 3,530 13,910 6,700 3,190 1,210 7,849
Trent 57,165 48,152 2,920 8,980 4,640 19,440 8,140 2,540 1,490 9,013
East Anglia 23,075 20,349 1,720 4,550 1,750 6,650 2,730 870 2,090 2,726
North West Thames 45,596 39,045 4,500 10,860 5,060 12,080 4,100 1,210 1,240 6,551
North East Thames 49,894 41,392 2,860 9,990 4,970 14,370 6,030 1,900 1,270 8,502
South East Thames 44,007 35,355 2,810 8,340 5,070 12,290 4,020 1,820 1,010 8,652
South West Thames 34,688 30,307 4,000 9,630 4,190 8,080 2,370 1,020 1,030 4,381
Wessex 33,044 28,975 2,310 6,410 2,980 9,350 3,310 1,130 3,500 4,069
Oxford 30,948 27,258 2,560 7,130 2,810 8,730 3,640 990 1,410 3,690
South western 35,523 30,860 2,080 7,280 3,460 10,650 3,810 1,520 2,060 4,663
West Midlands 68,224 57,326 3,340 11,220 5,480 22,990 9,880 2,960 1,460 10,898
Mersey 31,850 25,920 1,700 5,370 2,670 8,940 4,260 2,600 380 5,930
North Western 53,617 43,032 2,480 8,370 4,470 16,360 7,310 3,210 820 10,585

1983 Percentage of all live births
Wales 100 85.5 4.9 14.8 8.2 32.7 13.4 8.4 3.0 14.5
Northern 100 83.3 4.6 141 7.9 33.0 13.5 8.4 1.8 16.7
Yorkshire 100 83.1 5.0 16.8 7.6 29.9 14.4 6.9 2.6 16.9
Trent 100 84.2 5.1 15.7 8.1 34.0 14.2 4.4 2.6 15.8
East Anglia 100 88.2 7.5 19.7 7.6 28.8 11.8 3.8 9.1 11.8
North West Thames 100 85.6 9.9 23.8 11.1 26.5 9.0 2.7 2.7 14.4
North East Thames 100 83.0 5.7 20.0 10.0 28.5 12.1 3.8 2.5 17.0
South East Thames 100 80.3 6.4 19.0 11.5 27.9 9.1 4.1 2.3 19.7
South West Thames 100 87.4 11.5 27.8 12.1 23.3 6.8 2.9 3.0 12.6
Wessex 100 87.7 7.0 19.4 9.0 28.3 10.0 3.4 10.6 12.3
Oxford 100 88.1 8.3 23.0 9.1 28.2 11.8 3.2 4.6 11.9
South Western 100 86.9 5.9 20.5 9.7 30.0 10.7 4.3 5.8 13.1
West Midlands 100 84.0 4.9 16.4 8.0 33.7 14.5 4.3 2.1 16.0
Mersey 100 81.4 5.3 16.9 8.4 28.1 13.4 8.2 1.2 18.6
North Western 100 80.3 4.6 15.6 8.3 30.5 13.6 6.0 1.5 19.7
Footnote: *Numbers of legitimate births according to social class are estimates based on a 10% sample.
† Other includes residual groups including for example, armed forces, students and those whose occupation was in adequately described.

TABLE 3 (Cont'd).
Regional Health All live Legitimate births by social class of father* Illegiti-
Authorities births All I II IIIN IIIM IV V Other• mate
1984: Numbers of births
Wales 35,861 29,835 1,740 5,570 3,120 10,970 4,430 2,950 1,050 6,026
Northern 39,248 31,876 1,700 5,400 3,180 12,780 4,710 3,260 850 7,372
Yorkshire 46,672 37,990 2,280 7,540 3,570 13,910 6,590 2,800 1,290 8,682
Trent 57,652 47,530 2,920 9,350 4,460 18,290 8,510 2,540 1,460 10,122
East Anglia 23,685 20,646 1,660 ,280 2,070 6,790 2.600 990 2,260 3,039
North West Thames 46,207 39,170 4,400 10,770 4,880 12,070 4,580 1.180 1,290 7,037
North East Thames 51,228 41,879 2,790 9,990 5,630 14,490 6,030 1,720 1,230 9,349
South East Thames 44,644 35,176 2,940 8,830 4,700 11,900 4,100 1,500 1,200 9,468
South West Thames 34,908 30,083 4,020 9,000 4,030 8,180 2,720 830 1,300 4,825
Wessex 33,810 29,222 2,240 6,510 2,820 9,540 3,540 1.400 3,170 4,588
Oxford 31,811 27,696 2,790 7,300 2,960 8,810 3,280 870 1.710 4.115
South western 36,193 30,850 2,280 6,860 3,310 10,820 4,240 1,550 1,790 5,343
West Midlands 68,726 56,756 3,280 10,600 5,600 22,720 9,760 3,150 1,650 11,970
Mersey 31,601 24,842 1,760 4,950 2,480 9,000 3,990 1.970 690 6,759
Northwestern 54.188 42,453 2,840 8,170 4,680 15,140 7,250 3,240 1,130 11,735

1984: Percentages of all live births
Wales 100 83.2 4.9 15.5 8.7 30.6 12.4 8.2 2.9 16.8
Northern 100 81.2 4.3 13.8 8.1 32.6 12.0 8.3 2.2 18.8
Yorkshire 100 81.4 4.9 16.2 7.6 29.8 14.1 6.0 2.8 18.6
Trent 100 82.4 5.1 16.2 7.7 31.7 14.8 4.4 2.5 17.6
East Anglia 100 87.2 7.0 18.1 8.7 28.7 11.0 4.2 9.5 12.8
North West Thames 100 84.8 9.5 23.3 10.6 26.1 9.9 2.6 2.8 15.2
North East Thames 100 81.6 5.4 19.5 11.0 28.2 11.8 3.4 2.4 18.4
South East Thames 100 78.8 6.6 19.8 10.5 26.7 9.2 3.4 2.7 21.2
South West Thames 100 86.2 11.5 25.8 11.5 23.4 7.8 2.4 3.7 13.8
Wessex 100 86.4 6.6 19.3 8.3 28.2 10 .5 4.1 9.4 13.6
Oxford 100 87.1 8.8 22.9 9.3 27.7 10.3 2.7 5.4 12.9
Southwestern 100 85.2 6.3 19.0 9.1 29.9 11.7 4.3 4.9 14.8
West Midlands 100 82.6 4.8 15.4 8.1 33.1 14.2 4.6 2.4 17.4
Mersey 100 78.6 5.6 15.7 7.8 28.5 12.6 6.2 2.2 21.4
Northwestern 100 78.3 5.2 15.1 8.6 27.9 13.4 6.0 2.1 21.7
Footnote: *Numbers of legitimate births according to social class are estimates based on a 10% sample.
•Other includes residual groups including for example, armed forces, students and those whose occupation was inadequately. described.

TABLE 3 (Cont' d).
Regional Health All live Legitimate births by social class of father* Illegiti-
Authorities births All I II IIIN IIIM IV V Other• mate
1985: Numbers of births
Wales 36,771 29,807 1,830 5,430 2,880 10,540 4,580 3,300 1,240 6,964
Northern 40,878 32,266 1,880 5,170 2,710 12,950 5,140 3,540 880 8,612
Yorkshire 48.022 38,135 2,010 7,980 3,600 13,430 6,670 2,890 1,560 9,887
Trent 58,751 46,999 3,070 9,160 4,130 17,750 8,030 2,860 2,280 11.752
East Anglia 24,487 20,932 1,480 4,390 1,860 6,970 2,990 960 1,590 3,555
North West Thames 47,468 39,672 4,390 11,120 5,310 12,390 4,030 1,050 1,370 7,796
North East Thames 52.006 41,510 3,110 10,140 4,990 14,230 5,790 1,550 1,700 10,496
South East Thames 46,902 36,167 2.820 9,270 4,550 12,220 4,320 1,530 1,440 10,735
South West Thames 36.367 30,873 3,940 10,060 4,120 8,270 2,500 830 1,160 5,494
Wessex 34,957 29,712 2,420 6,620 2,960 9,820 3,170 1,270 3,450 5,245
Oxford 33,070 28,327 2,540 7,460 3,210 8,570 3,560 1,070 1,910 4,743
Southwestern 37,560 31,283 2.250 6,860 3,430 10,670 4,270 1,530 2,280 6,277
West Midlands 70,351 56,823 3,810 10,880 5,530 22,050 9,590 3,000 1.960 13,528
Mersey 32,889 25,146 1,710 5,360 2,550 9,000 3,770 2,080 680 7,743
Northwestern 55,593 42,221 2,630 8,260 4,400 15,610 6,950 3,030 1,350 13,372

1985: Percentages of all live births
Wales 100 81.1 5.0 14.8 7.8 28.7 12.5 9.0 3.4 18.9
Northern 100 78.9 4.6 12.6 6.6 31.7 12.6 8.7 21.2 21.1
Yorkshire 100 79.4 4.2 16.6 7.5 28.0 13.9 6.0 3.2 20.6
Trent 100 80.0 5.2 15.6 7.0 30.2 13.7 4.9 3.4 20.0
East Anglia 100 85.5 6.0 17.9 7.6 28.5 12.2 3.9 9.3 14.5
North West Thames 100 83.6 9.2 23.4 11.2 26.1 8.5 2.2 2.9 16.4
North East Thames 100 79.8 6.0 19.5 9.6 27.4 11.1 3.0 3.3 20.2
South East Thames 100 77.1 6.0 19.8 9.7 2.61 9.2 3.3 3.1 22.9
South West Thames 100 84.9 10.8 27.7 11.3 22.7 6.9 2.3 3.2 15.1
Wessex 100 85.0 6.9 18.9 8.5 28.1 9.1 3.6 9.9 15.0
Oxford 100 85.7 7.7 22.6 9.7 25.9 10.8 3.2 5.8 14.3
South western 100 83.3 6.0 18.3 91 28.4 11.4 4.1 6.1 16.7
West Midlands 100 80.8 5.4 15.5 7.9 31.3 13.6 4.3 2.8 19.2
Mersey 100 76.5 5.2 16.3 7.8 27.4 11.5 6.3 2.1 23.5
North western 100 75.9 4.7 14.9 7.9 28.1 12.5 5.5 2.4 24.1
Footnote: *Numbers of legitimate births according to social class are estimates based on a 10% sample.
•Other includes residual groups including for example, armed forces, students and those whose occupation as inadequately described.