of inquiry--the _incidence of septic abortion_.

Septic infection, or blood-poisoning, is the most serious complication
which may follow abortion.

Grave concern has been occasioned by a realization of the frequency of
septic abortion, the most significant indication of which is the number
of women who lose their lives as the result of this complication.

Attention has repeatedly been drawn to this problem by the officers of
the Department of Health, the New Zealand Obstetrical and Gynaecological
Society, and others interested in maternal welfare.

During the five-year period 1931-35, 176 women died from sepsis
following abortion. In the same period there were only 70 deaths from
sepsis following full-time child-birth. Some of the distressing
repercussions from these tragedies have been revealed in the annual
report of the Director-General of Health, 1936, which shows that in
that period 338 children were left motherless by the death of 109
married women.

Another serious fact is that, while, owing to the strenuous efforts of
those engaged in the direction and practice of midwifery, there has
been a most gratifying fall in deaths from post-confinement sepsis from
2.02 per 1,000 live births in 1927 to 0.4 per 1,000 in 1935, deaths
from post-abortion sepsis in the same period rose from 0.50 per 1,000
live births in 1927 to 1.73 per 1,000 in 1934, with a fall to 1 per
1,000 in 1935. These figures are illustrated by the following graph and
accompanying table:--

_Maternal Mortality._

Showing the number of deaths and the death-rate per 1,000 live births
from certain causes, 1927 to 1935.

--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----
|1927|1928|1929|1930|1931|1932|1933|1934|1935
--------------------------+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+-----
Maternal mortality, | | | | | | | | |
_including_ septic | | | | | | | | |
abortion-- | | | | | | | | |
Number | 137| 134| 129| 136| 127| 101| 108| 118| 101
Rate |4.91|4.93|4.82|5.08|4.77|4.08|4.44|4.85|4.21
| | | | | | | | |
Maternal mortality, | | | | | | | | |
_excluding_ septic | | | | | | | | |
abortion-- | | | | | | | | |