The Washington times., 1926-09-08

-Four other factors contributing
ko the national death rate Az listed
~ fhe chfldrenss Bureau, are povs
eftv. lack ok supervision of hos
pitfalls. physicians nurses and nlia-
wives, neglect Of the, mothers dur.
| fng prenatal months, and to the
fact that only few of the states
require physicians to report cases
81 social diseases and pnerperai
septicelaia.
Washington Not Poor
Poverty, certainly. does not -
plain the situation ia washington
We have our poor. to be sure. but
not ii the vast numbers found
in cities with larger industrial
| populations.
our local health department keek
the closest eye upon all hcspit III
physicians, nurses and n1idWiVes
practicing in the city. The latter
are surprisingly few in numbers
licensed nnidWfpes ii Washington
and only eight Ok them are actually
More NJ than llhIf ths bIrtiis iii liIs
District are hospital c0nflnennenfA
Hospital care does not. Of course
insure safe delivery or mean thai
the mother Is receiving any better
care than she would At home But
that the mother Ii III h properly
regulated hospital does imply that
she fl receiving medical attention.
that she has the services Of q nursn
and that. iii case her condition re-
Quires 1t. she can be operated a
with & minimum OF risk.
E1rthermore the mother. ia
the hospital, has q complete rest
from h0useWork and the thousand
and one petty annoyances that g0
10 make UP the housewives day.
A rate Of SO per cent hospital
births is high. According to the
Children's Bureau figures only half
q dozen cities had & higher rate o
1874. The majority reported were
under SO and q few went as low as
nine or under. 9
It may be interesting to inquire
as to the specific causes Of the Ina
ternal deaths In the Dfstrics In
1922. TO, take q typical year, the
District lost 81 women from eau s
lconnected with childbirth OF sheses
81 were white and 2s Negro.
An Astonishing Fact
One-half Of the deaths were re-
ported as having been caused by
puerperal septicennia. This figure.
Is even the more astounding when
We take into consideration the fact
that septicemla Is attributed b.
physicians IN the majority Of cases
to lack or surgical cleanliness.
In that year septicen1ia was rs.s
sponsible for 80 OF the So deaths.
OF these 80 women, IL were Negro
and 13 white. This, it may be exs
planned. is generally the case. Septf~
cennia takes q far greater toll OF
lives among the Negro mothers than
the white.
That year, and every year, the
second greatest contributing factor
to the Districts high death rate
was puerperal albuminuria couyuls
sions. Here conditions were re-
versed. According to the statistics.
13 white mothers died Of convtIl.
sions that year, while only
Negroes succumbed to the same
cause.
Puerperal convulsions are at
tributed by the majority Of physt-
clans to lack OF prenatal care.
Wrong diet, no exercise or fresh
air, ETC., all are contributing
Prenatal neglect. 1t win be re-
.nlenbered. is one OF the great
reasons given by the Children'a
Bureau for the high national death
rate.
It would seem that the expectant
mother in the District Of CoIumbia
would have the best of care.
Fresh air is hers for the asking.
She has only to climb on board
car, even If she lives in the heart
OF the city, and in q few minutes
she Is In the country.
Our People Intelligent
We like to believe our women are
more intelligent than the average.
And washington does have a higher
percentage Of college-bred men ana
women than the majority Of cities.
It seems incredible that the CITY ~ {
high maternal death rate should Be
due to neglect of the expectant
mother And yet this would seem
to be the case.
Facilities for prenatal care IN
the District will be discussed ~
an article tomorrow.
The worlds largest glass statue.
- IEN