INFANT MORTALITY

Hokitika Guardian, 27 September 1932, Page 3

INFANT MORTALITY

7 A-'NEW.-RECORD LOW. RATE

;: Be.ptem%iv 2L

I/. The'' 1 record' ' low; ' infant mortality , rhte. of' 32.15 . per 'IO.OO five biiths..', m described ,as; on^'bf?'the, 1 out-standing features 'o'f the- in, the. annual re-, port '-Qf "tbe Dripaftment of- Health,-• .which was tabled; "in the Hous e . of - Representatives to-day. A particularly gratifying feature/ of- the infant .statistics i§r. that the first month mprtali.ty of. infants) a,t >st appeals to be ■permanently falling, to. a lower■ lov.el. In 1927 the' ’infant- mortality rate under on e month was 25.83, while rii 1931; it was 22.69. The' -sfiH-bi-rth rate of 30.4 per 1000 live, births, is slightly, lower than 4 fpi’ ; the preceding year, , w-hen it was. 32:3. Aithough, generally speaking, it has 'riot shown much ; tendency •to improve since . the. figures were first, recorded,

' Perhaps .of the least satisfactory features of tlm -statistics is the decline in th e birth rate, continues -the report. Thik-ls'a,.progressive and. continuing tendency., the rate having; declined from 20.29 per 1000 of mean population: in 1927, to 18.42 in 19-3 P. Tl’iis downward tendency is not - peculiar to New Zealand.-,• -It is -seen in an even more marked extent in Great ’Britain, where the birth rate has j reached 16.3, ' Undoubtedly th's phe-; nomenon is in. part a reflex of the present economic position, and; indicgT,! tions are., that. the. Tate will continue-, to fall further, in >lg\y Zealand, ns ‘.the; marriage rate for 1931 was lower than at any tiriie for th e ...past quinquenniunl ■