asked the Minister for Health whether his attention has been drawn to a statement made on 28th May, 1963 by the Master of the Coombe Hospital, Dublin as to the high infant mortality rate in this country, which he believed to be due to lack of sufficient nourishment for mothers during pregnancy and of adequate clothing for babies; and whether he will take steps to improve the existing health services for mothers and infants, with a view to reducing this mortality rate.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Infant Mortality Rate.
3.
My attention has been drawn to a newspaper report that the Master of the Coombe Hospital, at a recent public meeting at the hospital, stated that this country was "one of the worst in the civilised world for infant mortality" and that he believed this was due to lack of sufficient nourishment for mothers during pregnancy and of adequate clothing for babies.
The infant mortality rate in this country, that is the deaths of infants in the age group up to one year expressed as a proportion of every thousand live births in the same year, which stood at 74 in 1926 and 68 in 1947, had by 1961 fallen to 30 and in 1962 was 29. The 1962 rate for England and Wales was 21, for Scotland 26 and for Northern Ireland 27.
Infant mortality rates for 1961 for a number of Western European countries, published by the World Health Organisation, are as follows:—
|
Austria |
33 |
|
Belgium |
26 |
|
France |
26 |
|
Germany (Federal Republic) |
32 |
|
Italy (1960) |
44 |
|
Netherlands |
15 |
|
Portugal |
88 |
|
Spain |
38 |
These figures do not bear out the reported statement "that this country is one of the worst in the civilised world for infant mortality." In fact, when certain special factors which affect the situation here—our relatively late marriages combined with high fertility—are taken into account, our figures bear favourable comparison with most of the countries mentioned.
In regard to the second part of the question, since I became Minister for Health, no instance has been reported to me of an infant's dying from lack of adequate clothing due to the poverty of the mother and I feel sure that in recent times all my predecessors have had the same experience. In any event, the Health Acts provide for the payment by health authorities to mothers in the lower income group of a maternity cash grant of £4 which may be used, where necessary, for the purchase of a layette. Such a grant was paid last year in respect of one in every three births. This grant is additional to the maternity grant payable under the social welfare code.
I accept that lack of appropriate nourishment for mothers during pregnancy may contribute to infant mortality; but this lack, where it exists, does not necessarily result from poverty. Every expectant mother in the lower income group is entitled, under the Health Acts, to a daily supply of milk and this facility is widely availed of. In addition, in the Dublin area charitable organisations provide a substantial mid-day meal to expectant mothers who seek it. One such organisation, which receives a measure of financial assistance, also under the Health Acts, from the Dublin Health Authority—which in turn receives 50 per cent recoupment from the Exchequer—operates 16 centres spread throughout the city at which an average of 500 dinners were provided daily for expectant mothers in a recent year. It should be remembered that nutritional deficiency can result as readily from eating the wrong type of food as from an inadequate supply of food.
In view of the foregoing, I do not consider it necessary to take any special measures at present to change the existing pattern of the maternity and infant services. The matter will, of course, be reviewed by the Select Committee at present sitting.