Perinatal mortality in Utrecht, The Netherlands, 1880-1940

The secular trend of perinatal mortality in Utrecht between 1880 and 1940 and its causes are examined in this study, based on patient records of two maternity clinics, those of the city's academic hospital, and of its outpatient clinic. The sample includes 17,111 deliveries. Over the period the proportion of births in the city occurring in the two institutions rose from 3 to 90%. The perinatal mortality rate in the hospital declined and then rose slightly at the end of the 19th century, but remained constant, even if cyclical, thereafter in both the hospital and the outpatient clinic. Rates differed substantially between the two maternity services. Logistic regression analysis reveals a cluster of factors related to perinatal death. Low birth weight had a powerful association with perinatal mortality in both samples. Most of the other factors associated with perinatal mortality were related to the health of the patients, to obstetric problems related to deliveries, and to infant sex and maternal age. Relationships between perinatal mortality and other measures of human welfare in The Netherlands are explored.