--------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | | | |Maternal | | Death- | | | | | Death- | | rate | | Total |Maternal|Maternal |rate per | Deaths | from | | Mater-| Death- | Deaths | 1,000 | from | Septic Urban Area | Live | nal |rate per|excluding| Live | Septic |Abortion |Births.|Deaths.| 1,000 | Septic | Births |Abortion| per | | | Live |Abortion.|excluding| | 1,000 | | |Births. | | Septic | | Live | | | | |Abortion.| | Births. ------------+-------+-------+--------+---------+---------+--------+-------- Auckland |14,290 | 81 | 5·67 | 55 | 3·85 | 26 | 1·82 Wellington |11,690 | 61 | 5·22 | 32 | 2·74 | 29 | 2·48 Christchurch| 9,599 | 51 | 5·31 | 29 | 3·02 | 22 | 2·29 Dunedin | 5,960 | 24 | 4·03 | 17 | 2·96 | 7 | 1·17 | | | | | | | Total, four |41,539 | 217 | 5·22 | 133 | 3·20 | 84 | 2·02 urban areas| | | | | | | | | | | | | | Total, |58,623 | 273 | 4·66 | 204 | 3·48 | 69 | 1·18 remainder | | | | | | | of Dominion| | | | | | | --------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the case of the four urban areas deaths from septic abortion account for approximately two-fifths of the total maternal mortality. With these cases excluded, the maternal mortality associated with child-birth proper was 3.20 per 1,000 live births. Clearly, any comparison between different maternity services should be made on the basis of these latter figures alone. WHAT IS THE CAUSE OF THIS HIGH INCIDENCE OF DEATHS FROM SEPTIC ABORTION. The evidence offered to the Committee by medical witnesses indicates conclusively that sepsis, and death from sepsis particularly, is almost entirely due to illegal instrumental interference. Spontaneous abortion, provided that proper medical care is given, rarely results in sepsis. Therapeutic abortion, done with all the safeguards of modern surgical practice, is associated with very little acute sepsis. But criminal abortion is associated with an extremely high sepsis rate. The reasons are not far to seek: the surreptitious nature of the operation and the lack of skill and surgical cleanliness so frequently shown by the operator make this result almost inevitable. HAS THE PRACTICE OF ABORTION INCREASED IN RECENT YEARS?