Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-03-03
Iniant Mortality.


 recofaac;' .; infant. Where, lherc
 ca s,. '1 tae vital statistics as record
 l1',, |, for the city, to be taken on their
 ed ", ,olne we shcul-. be forced to
 aee M oonclusion that, with the except
 tue of three, all babies .orn died
 ol notely. the situation is not
 spass aajte as these figures would indicate
 quls. nn,ine the recent canvass, there
 .a pa discovered 2SS births which had
 Vss ,oen oe recorded. Adding these to
 n'. % we have 316 as the number
 'ne s,rrng - during 1917. Ihis is, of
 W..s ...a incomplete, as is inpos-
 svl1 sinlp no matter how carefully search
 s,pS> ,o locate all births which have
 " ss,,rred during any calendar year,
 Os.u' aar the close of the eyar in quest
 a. at,'' The only possible way of secur.
 un' !ua complete registration is to keep
 H1 constant check on physicians and
 rdwives, throughout the year, and
 .a ai insist on prompt and complete re-
 + has already been noted, under
 .he heading of Vital Statistics" that
 the,e % were also discovered l92 deat'ls
 which had not preiousvly been re
 norted. These were secured by
 searching undertakers' ard other
 ,scords. Of these 192, fifteen were
 described as deaths of infants.
 Whether all of these were infants. j.
 . fabies born alive, but dying be-
 fore the completion of their first
 wear, is doubtful. Some, there Is
 reason to believe, were deaths o"
 cdpr children. while others may
 have been still births, so that the
 actual number of infant deaths is
 unknown, and infant mortality rates
 hased on the available figures of
 hrtbs and deaths would be quite mi :
 leading and are, therefore, not given
 We would merely state that there is
 every reason to believe, from what
 we have seen of the conditions sur
 rounding infancy in 'Fine Bluff. that
 fine rate is unusually high If, for
 instance, the 15 deaths discovered by
 Miss Mariner, described ns those of
 infants, are correctly described, and
 if we accept the birth figure, 316, the
 infant mortality rate would be 126.5
 per thousand births. There is so much uncertainty SurrOunindg the situation. however. that it is better to attemp he estimation of nc rates at all
 Under the present conditions of birth registration in Pine Bluff, il is quite evident that no intelligent preventive work can te undertaken. We have soon even that infant mor- tahty rate cannot be accurately de ermined and, as fundamentally es- sential to any future work, we would strongly suggest that the proper of i flclas become very much more act
 i've in securing complete registration i Of births. Not only should these be reported, but for reasons which will be touched upon later, they should he reported promptly, preferably within A hours after their occurrence. For purpose of study, we have talk l n the recorded infant, deaths from gl4 to 1917 inclusive, and have grouped them according to those sus- ceptihle to prenatal influences, those susceptible Ito postnatal influences, saa third group due to all other | causes.
 Under ordinarily good conditions u death registration ana certifi catlon, this is most satisfactory grouping in as much as it indicates tue mes of attack and methods re- qured .i for the reduction Of prevent sole deaths. Unfortunately, death Ieslsfration has likewise been incom- pete pla in Pine Bluff. While investi- ss saung the deaths of 1917 alone. Miss nafriner has brought to light 9 Nalea were no trecorded nor ever souid nave been, except for the re- ssnI ss investigations. Thus. it has usen s. customary for undertakers to s..uie s..u put one burial permit where eS;,,, Sm inother and baby have died in sas stMsluoirth, and whether Or not the sauy IS alive or still born, all too there is not gurnished a ,sofa hes Of its existence, and the fact vssA ,s.. brought to light only because I ha' tha elle baby was born and died. has ms me., certified cause of death of the the birth. 'Ae o''''ra'ice 'ol ha 'n a.. .l!s same connection. it should N ,Ss lU.so p that in at least 8 instances. i n' ;n tss sUsoys death alone was recorded { s tact tne ', reglstrar's office, while the ma ma i, anat the mother had also died cov..s u ueen buried was accidentally dis { ri,cnra ru through Investigating the Of tSlls.ances tSa stances surrounding the death lha ,as quite ossible,. ptherefore. that tho i,evorded ,o. deaths of infants during ies .yur S" years selected for our stud ', Is ,S So not represent all of inc hah.
 unde,n ST nave "a died during this period. Suscsntt;.,, t ,ne first heading, of "Deatns premat"uiit p,uie to Prenatal Influences, h ia,urity iou. is given as the cause lhesa , do instances. Ia addition to { ng ,ho hueaths, there are recorded dur- B sti,,h;i l same period d914 to 191O. and ti,'uIrths. sti,'a While prematurityt l. be entira, ntia,pearlng may be no means ioubt bthely hvI :, prevented, there is little Portion oas ut that a considerable nro- ,f con..e, oi these cases are suscentihle neasures' eav'' by the adoption of suitable { should h. In this connection it births oao .e noted that. of the IA still ,ne motS ovtsScufrlng during 1917. only nst,'.,.ne had such s,,nor,,;c.:o