§ Mr. Carter-Jonesasked the Secretary of State for Social Services (1) what was the perinatal mortality rate in England in each regional health authority and in each area health authority for the years 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974 and 1975; and if he will make a statement about any variations;
(2) what was the rate of infant deaths for 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974 and 1975 per 1,000 live births in England in each regional health authority; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Roland MoyleThe available information is as in the following tables;
The figures show that overall there has been a reduction in infant mortality but this has not been as rapid as in some other European countries and as we would wish.
The factors contributing to perinatal mortality rates are complex and include regional differences in incidence of congenital malformation and in the social composition of communities.
About one-third of infant deaths occur in the first day of life and about 60 per cent. in the first week, and this underlines the crucial importance of the quality of care during the perinatal period and throughout pregnancy and labour.
In August my Department asked health authorities to review their facilities for the care of the new-born and the need to improve the level of care for low birth-weight and sick new-born babies was 411W recognised in our consultative document "Priorities for Health and Personal Social Services in England".
More research is needed to identify risk factors which may contribute to rela-
Perinatal Mortality Stillbirths and deaths under 1 week of age per 1,000 total births Hospital Regions 1971 1972 1973 Newcastle 23.0 23.5 21.8 Leeds 22.4 24.2 22.9 Sheffield 22.8 22.5 21.0 East Anglian 20.0 19.5 17.4 North-West Metropolitan 19.8 18.8 19.2 North-East Metropolitan 21.9 20.8 20.4 South-East Metropolitan 20.1 19.0 19.6 South-West Metropolitan 20.1 19.7 18.8 Wessex 21.4 19.3 20.6 Oxford 19.7 17.7 17.0 South Western 19.9 19.9 19.0 Birmingham 23.7 23.9 23.6 Manchester 25.3 25.0 23.4 Liverpool 26.2 24.2 24.6 412W
Health Authority Perinatal Mortality Stillbirths and deaths under 1 week of age per 1,000 total births Region and Area 1974 1975* NORTHERN 22.6 19.9 Cleveland 24 20 Cumbria 21 21 Durham 23 19 Northumberland 23 21 Gateshead 28 24 Newcastle upon Tyne 20 15 Northern Tyneside 17 15 Southern Tyneside 20 20 Sunderland 24 21 YORKSHIRE 22.2 21.6 Bradford 24 22 Calderdale 21 19 Humberside 23 22 Kirklees 22 24 Leeds 23 19 North Yorkshire 20 19 Wakefield 21 28 TRENT 21.0 18.6 Barnsley 22 17 Derbyshire 21 19 Doncaster 18 22 Leicestershire 23 19 Lincolnshire 21 17 Nottinghamshire 20 19 Rotherham 23 17 Sheffield 21 19 EAST ANGLIAN 16.6 15.7 Cambridgeshire 16 17 Norfolk 17 16 Suffolk 17 15 NORTH WEST THAMES 17.5 18.4 Barnet 17 16 Bedfordshire 20 18 Brent and Harrow 19 20 Ealing, Hammersmith and Hounslow 20 21 Hertfordshire 16 17 Hillingdon 16 23 Kensington, Chelsea and Westminster 13 14 * Provisional. tively high infant and perinatal mortality rates and as I explained to my hon. Friend in my reply on 27th October my Department is sponsoring research in this sphere.—[Vol. 918, c. 291–2.]
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Health Authority Perinatal Mortality Stillbirths and deaths under 1 week of age per 1,000 total births Region and Area 1974 1975* North-East Thames 19.2 18.0 Barking and Havering 18 17 Camden and Islington 17 19 City and East London 21 20 Enfield and Haringey 16 18 Essex 19 17 Redbridge and Waltham Forest 22 20 South-East Thames 19.5 19.3 Bromley 17 18 East Sussex 20 18 Greenwich and Bexley 19 19 Kent 18 19 Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham 23 21 South-West Thames 18.1 18.0 Croydon 19 20 Kingston and Richmond 23 18 Merton, Sutton and Wandsworth 21 19 Surrey 16 17 West Sussex 15 17 Wessex 17.8 17.1 Dorset 18 17 Hampshire 18 18 Isle of Wight 21 12 Wiltshire 16 17 Oxford 15.7 15.6 Berkshire 16 15 Buckinghamshire 16 17 Northamptonshire 17 16 Oxfordshire 13 14 South-Western 19.0 16.8 Avon 20 18 Cornwall (and Scilly) 20 16 Devon 18 15 Gloucestershire 18 19 Somerset 20 16 West Midlands 22.5 21.8 Birmingham 23 23 Coventry 23 19 Dudley 21 23 Hereford and Worcester 18 18 Salop 20 15 Sandwell 27 25 Solihull 20 17 Staffordshire 24 22 Walsall 26 23 Warwickshire 21 21 Wolverhampton 26 33 Mersey 23.6 22.0 Cheshire 21 21 Liverpool 27 23 St. Helens and Knowsley 24 23 Sefton 24 20 Wirral 22 23 North-Western 23.1 21.9 Bolton 22 26 Bury 23 19 Lancashire 23 21 Manchester 24 24 Oldham 24 20 Rochdale 25 22 Salford 24 28 Stockport 21 21 Tameside 29 22 Trafford 24 19 Wigan 19 20
Infant Mortality Deaths under 1 year per 1,000 live births Hospital Region 1971 1972 1973 Newcastle 18.9 19.4 17.7 Leeds 19.8 19.2 20.0 Sheffield 18.8 18.3 16.0 East Anglian 15.0 15.2 13.5 North-West Metropolitan 16.9 14.9 15.3 North-East Metropolitan 16.5 16.2 16.6 South-East Metropolitan 14.5 15.5 15.0 South-West Metropolitan 15.8 15.9 16.2 Wessex 16.4 15.8 14.6 Oxford 15.5 15.0 13.7 South Western 15.6 16.3 15.0 Birmingham 17.7 18.4 19.1 Manchester 19.1 19.7 19.2 Liverpool 21.1 18.1 20.0
Infant Mortality Deaths under 1 year per 1,000 live births Regional Health Authority 1974 1975* Northern 17.3 15.0 Yorkshire 19.5 17.9 Trent 15.7 15.6 East Anglian 14.1 14.6 North-West Thames 14.2 15.2 North-East Thames 15.7 14.9 South-East Thames 15.2 15.8 South-West Thames 14.1 14.6 Wessex 14.9 15.4 Oxford 13.8 12.6 South Western 14.6 14.4 West Midlands 16.9 16.8 Mersey 18.4 16.3 North Western 19.8 17.8 * Provisional.