London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
St Pancras 1926
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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The corresponding figures for previous years will be seen in Table 1, on page *8.
The following table gives the number of births and the birth-rate in each ward 01 the Borough for the past year. For comparison the figures for the previous year are also given:— Ward Births and Birth Rates.
| Ward. | Number of Births. | Birth Bate. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1925. | 1926. | 1925. | 1920. | |
| I | 597 | 489 | 16.5 | 13.5 |
| 2 | 444 | 427 | 19.9 | 19.1 |
| 3 | 671 | 612 | 18.4 | 16.8 |
| 4 | 480 | 454 | 18.2 | 17.1 |
| 5 | 591 | 566 | 19.2 | 18.3 |
| 6 | 467 | 448 | 22.2 | 21.2 |
| 7 | 164 | 164 | 10.6 | 10.6 |
| 8 | 466 | 452 | 16.9 | 16.3 |
1,551 births occurred in Public Institutions, equal to 37.6 per cent. of the total
births which took place in the Borough.
Table 5, on page 85, shows for 1926 the birth-rate of England and Wales, the County
of London, the Metropolitan Boroughs, and certain of the large towns having populations
exceeding 125,000.
Illegitimacy.
Of the 3,012 net St. Pancras births, 226 were returned as illegitimate. This
equals 6.3 per cent. of the total births.
The corresponding figures for the preceding 10 years were as follows :—
| Year. | Rate. | Year. | Rate. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1916 | 7.0 per cent. | 1921 | 5.5 per cent. |
| 1917 | 7.2 „ | 1922 | 5.6 „ |
| 1918 | 9.5 „ | 1923 | 5.7 „ |
| 1919 | 8.4 „ | 1924 | 5.9 „ |
| 1920 | 5.6 „ | 1925 | 6.3 „ |
Notification of Births.
4,097 notifications of births were received during the year: this includes 138 stillbirths
and 3,959 live births, and represents 96 per cent. of the births registered as having
taken place in the Borough. The Notification of Births Act (1907) states: "information with
regard to the event shall be given to the Medical Officer of Health within 36 hours of the
occurrence of the birth of a child, alive or dead, which has issued forth from its mother after
the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy." This notification is in addition to, and not in substitution
for, registration of birth, which must be carried out at a Registry Office within forty-two
days of the birth.