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 1938
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Pancras, Metropolitan Borough]
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18
The corresponding figures for previous years are given on page 4.
The following table gives the number of births and the birth rate per 1,000 of
estimated population in each Ward of the Borough for the year 1938, and for comparison the
figures for the previous year are also given : —
Ward Births and Birth Rates.
| Ward. | 1938 | 1937. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Births. | Birth Rate. | Births. | Birth Rate. | |
| 1 | 485 | 14.9 | 463 | 14.1 |
| 2 | 275 | 15.4 | 279 | 15.4 |
| 3 | 477 | 15.9 | 512 | 16.8 |
| 4 | 307 | 14.1 | 291 | 13.2 |
| 5 | 343 | 13.2 | 285 | 10.8 |
| 6 | 208 | 12.7 | 172 | 10.4 |
| 7 | 113 | 9.6 | 115 | 10.0 |
| 8 | 225 | 9.6 | 247 | 10.4 |
| Borough | 2433 | 13.5 | 2364 | 13.0 |
No less than 2,971 births occurred in Public Institutions in St. Pancras, equal to
77*3 per cent, of the total births which took place in the Borough.
Illegitimacy.
Of the 2,433 net St. Pancras births, 282, or 11.6 per cent., were recorded as being
illegitimate.
The corresponding figures for the preceding 10 years were as follows:—
| Year. | Rate. | Year. | Rate. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1928 | 7.3 per cent. | 1933 | 8.8 per cent. |
| 1929 | 7.8 „ | 1934 | 9.8 „ |
| 1930 | 8.4 „ | 1935 | 8.8 „ |
| 1931 | 8.3 „ | 1936 | 9.7 „ |
| 1932 | 8.0 „ | 1937 | 9.3 „ |
In the years before the great War the illegitimate births in the Borough were from 4
to 5 per cent. of the total births registered. During the war years the rate increased to about
9 per cent., and although a decrease then occurred, an upward tendency in the number of
illegitimate births has been apparent during recent years.
Notification of Births.
The Notification of Births Acts (1907-1915) require "information with regard to the
event to 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.