Mortality of infants 1 month to 1 year of age.—The mortality rate among white infants who survived the first month of life has been relatively stable in the District of Columbia during the period 1927– 36 (table 8). The rate for white infants for both 1934 and 1935 (15.5) was lower than for any prior year of the period, but in 1936 the rate

CAUSES OF MORTALITY IN CERTAIN PERIODS OF THE FIRST YEAR OF LIFE AMONG WHITE AND COLORED INFANTS; DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 1933-35

was 18.9. Among colored infants the rates are much higher than among white infants. The lowest rate of the period was in 1935 (39.1). The rate in 1936 (64.8) was higher than that of any year from 1932 to 1935.

Causes of infant mortality.-The causes of infant mortality in the first year and in the first month of life in the District of Columbia

in the period 1933-35 are shown in figure 4 and table 9. A study of causes of mortality in the first year of life showed that in this period prenatal and natal conditions were responsible for by far the greatest proportion of the deaths of both white and colored infants. For both white and colored infants respiratory diseases were second in importance as a cause of death, gastrointestinal diseases were third, and epidemic and communicable diseases were fourth. The mortality rate for each type of cause among colored infants was much higher than among white. Obviously prenatal and natal conditions were responsible for the great majority of deaths in the first month of life. For colored infants the rate from these causes (48.6) was much higher than that for white infants (26.1).

TABLE 9.-Causes of mortality in certain periods of the first year of life among white and colored infants, District of Columbia, 1933–35

1 Deaths per 1,000 infants surviving the first month of life. Source: Reports of the U. S. Bureau of the Census.

Premature birth.-Among prenatal and natal causes of death, premature birth, as a rule, is the most important cause in the first year of life and in the first month. It was responsible during the period 1933–35 for 37 percent of the deaths of white infants and 38 percent of the deaths of colored infants who died in the first year of life and for 57 percent of the deaths of white infants and 65 percent of the deaths of colored infants in the first month of life.

Trends of mortality rates in the first month of life from premature birth were very variable in the period 1927-35 (fig. 5 and table 10). The rate among colored infants was higher in 1935 (38.7) than that for any other year of the period. The rate for colored infants invariably greatly exceeded the rate for white infants through the period 1927-35.

TREND OF MORTALITY FROM PREMATURE BIRTH

IN THE FIRST MONTH OF LIFE AMONG WHITE AND COLORED INFANTS; DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 1927-35

TABLE 10.—Trend of mortality from premature birth in the first month of life among white and colored infants, District of Columbia, 1927–35

During 1936, 39 white and 42 colored women died from conditions directly due to pregnancy and childbirth. The maternal mortality rates were 49.4 and 110.4, respectively, per 10,000 live births to white and to colored women.

CAUSES OF PUERPERAL MORTALITY AMONG WHITE AND COLORED WOMEN;
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, BALTIMORE, NEW ORLEANS, AND PHILADELPHIA, 1933-35

Maternal mortality rates from puerperal sepsis and from all other puerperal causes among white and colored women for the District of Columbia, Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New Orleans for the period 1933-35 are shown in figure 6 and table 11. It is apparent that the maternal mortality rate for all races in the District of Columbia was lower than that in any of the three other cities. The maternal mor

tality rate for white women in the District of Columbia was 33.5, a rate lower than that in Baltimore, New Orleans, or Philadelphia. The rate for colored women in the District of Columbia was 87.8, a rate lower than that in New Orleans, but higher than that in Baltimore or Philadelphia.

TABLE 11.-Causes of puerperal mortality among white and colored women in the District of Columbia, Baltimore, New Orleans, and Philadelphia, 1933–35

119.7

60.0

59.7

60.0

26.3

33.7

54.5

24.7

29.8

52.1

25.9

26. 2

89.7

41. 1

48.6

53.3

23. 4

29.9

50.9

TREND OF PUERPERAL MORTALITY AMONG WHITE AND COLORED WOMEN; DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, 1927-36