LETTER: Big difference in infant death rates

HAVING read an article about Kian Edward McMillan (Express, December 13th) I checked the infant death rates in Burnley’s electoral wards.

The 2003-2010 infant death rates in Burnley’s electoral wards vary widely, from 1.5 per 1,000 live births to 12.5 per 1,000, i.e. an eightfold differential.

The 12.5 ward adjoins Trinity ward, where Scarlett Street, the scene of the tragedy, is located. That “non-Trinity” ward had a total of 1,358 live births and 17 infant deaths recorded by the Office of National Statistics in the eight-year period 2003-2010.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Compare this with Southfield ward (London Borough of Ealing), which had the highest number of live births I’ve found in any ward in England and Wales (1,533) and no infant deaths.

The data for 2010 shows Daneshouse with Stoneyholme had 151 live births and three infant deaths recorded, one male and two female. Of the above, one of the three deaths was under 28 days and that was a little girl.

My wife and I know what it is like to lose an infant, as our only daughter died at 14 weeks in 1985.

MICHAEL RYAN

Related topics: