Cause od death statistics and death certificate documentation. 1. Historical development of cause of death statistics of fetal death, infants and children and current regulations in the GDR

After having described the beginnings of documentation and statistics of causes of death of newborns and children the development of this branch of medical statistics in the GDR and the introduction of a special death certificate in 1961 is dealt with. To help obstetricians, perinatologists and pediatrists to tackle the problem of documentation of the causes of death of stillborns and newborns the 9th revision of ICD, the nowadays valid death certificate and special rules of signing are explained to avoid mistakes, which are often met with in the daily practice.