Deaths among Female Population in the Punjab

WITH reference to the regrettable tendency prevailing in the Punjab for the female population to die in larger numbers than the male, the statistics for 1914 show that from the 10th to 30th year of age women, who are fewer than men, die in much larger numbers than the men. But after the age of 30, the reverse is the case. Below 10 years of age and after 30 the death rate among females is less than that among males-a fact which shows that female mortality must be connected with motherhood. When we notice that infantile mortality is also very high and the birth rate is abnormal in more than half the number of districts, it seems that the evil must be traced to social habits rather than to unhealthy conditions of home life. Can the prevention of early marriage be of much good in this matter? We have no statistics to show how many of the children that perish below their fifth year are of mothers under 18 years of age. It would be useful be record the fact in all cases of child mortality what the age of the mother is.