Assessing the Comparability of Mortality Statistics

A woman aged 29 had an uneventful antenatal period and was admitted in the first stage of labour on her expected date of con- finement. Foetal movements had ceased early in labour, and on her admission six and a half hours before delivery no foetal heart was heard. The cervix was dilated three fingerbreadths and no cord was felt. Labour lasted 14 hours and the patient was delivered of a female stillborn infant weighing 6 lb. 4--> -4 | 12 oz. (3,060 g.). The cord was coiled loosely once round the baby's neck and showed a swell- ing 5 cm. long near the umbilicus (see Fig.).