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
London County Council 1905
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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6
BlRTHS.
The number of births registered in the Administrative County of London in 1905 (52 weeks)
was 126,620, giving a birth-rate of 27.1 per 1,000 persons living per annum. The steady decline in the
London birth-rate noted in previous reports has continued, and the birth-rate for 1905 is the lowest
recorded rate in London since the institution of civil registration.
The birth-rate in successive periods has been as follows:—
| 1851-60 | 33.6 | 1901 | 29.0 | |
| 1861-70 | 35.4 | 1902 | 28.5 | |
| 1871-80 | 35.4 | 1903 | 28.5 | |
| 1881-90 | 33.2 | 1904 | 27.9 | |
| 1891-1900 | 30.3 | 1905 | 27.1 |
The corresponding figures for England and Wales are as follows:—
| 1851-60 | 34.2 | 1901 | 28.5 |
| 1861-70 | 35.2 | 1902 | 28.6 |
| 1871-80 | 35.5 | 1903 | 28.4 |
| 1881-90 | 32.5 | 1904 | 28.0 |
| 1891-1900 | 29.9 | 1905 | 27.2 |
The accompanying diagram (II.) shows the London birth-rate in each year since 1850, in
relation to the mean birth-rate of the period 1851-1905.
The following table shows the birth-rate in the several sanitary areas per 1,000 persons living and per 100 married females aged 15-45 in the period 1901-4 and for the year 1905 (52 weeks):—
| Sanitary area. | Births, 1905. | Birth-rate per 1,000 persons living. | Births per 100 married females aged 15-45. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1901-4. | 1905. | 1901-4. | 1905. | ||
| Paddington | 3,185 | 22.7 | 21.6 | 19.9 | 18.9 |
| Kensington | 3,458 | 19.8 | 19.3 | 19.3 | 18.8 |
| Hammersmith | 3,110 | 26.8 | 26.2 | 21.4 | 20.9 |
| Fulham | 4,760 | 32.7 | 30.4 | 22.9 | 21.3 |
| Chelsea | 1,583 | 21.5 | 21.3 | 20.0 | 19.8 |
| Westminster, City of | 2,940 | 17.2 | 16.8 | 16.4 | 15.9 |
| †St. Marylebone | 3,879 | 30.2 | 30.0 | 27.4 | 27.3 |
| Hampstead | 1,421 | 17.5 | 16.2 | 16.9 | 15.7 |
| St, Pancras | 5,811 | 26.7 | 24.7 | 21.2 | 19.6 |
| Islington | 8,604 | 26.8 | 25.2 | 21.1 | 19.8 |
| Stoke Newington | 1,078 | 21.6 | 20.5 | 18.4 | 17.4 |
| †Hackney | 5,884 | 28.0 | 25.8 | 23.2 | 21.3 |
| Holborn | 1,603 | 28.2 | 28.5 | 24.3 | 24.5 |
| †Finsbury | 3,398 | 36.8 | 34.7 | 28.9 | 27.2 |
| London, City of | 302 | 13.8 | 13.5 | 16.3 | 16.0 |
| Shoreditch | 3,897 | 33.5 | 33.5 | 26.5 | 26.5 |
| Bethnal Green | 4,321 | 35.2 | 33.2 | 28.1 | 26.5 |
| †Stepney | 10,744 | 37.4 | 35.3 | 29.6 | 27.9 |
| Poplar | 5,449 | 34.0 | 32.1 | 27.5 | 26.0 |
| Southwark | 6,250 | 32.6 | 30.1 | 24.5 | 22.6 |
| Bermondsey | 4,289 | 33.0 | 33.3 | 26.7 | 26.9 |
| †Lambeth | 8,838 | 29.6 | 28.3 | 23.5 | 22.5 |
| Battersea | 4,843 | 28.6 | 27.4 | 21.3 | 20.4 |
| Wandsworth | 6,892 | 26.5 | 26.0 | 21.8 | 21.4 |
| Camberwell | 6,937 | 27.7 | 25.6 | 22.8 | 21.1 |
| Deptford | 3,289 | 29.9 | 28.8 | 23.1 | 22.3 |
| Greenwich | 2,676 | 27.6 | 25.9 | 23.3 | 21.9 |
| Lewisham | 3,633 | 25.8 | 25.2 | 21.2 | 20.8 |
| Woolwich | 3,546 | 30.0 | 28.4 | 22.5 | 21.3 |
†Lying-in institutions are situated in these districts. The number of births occurring in these institutions
during the year 1905 was as follows:—St. Marylebone, Queen Charlotte's Living-in Hospital, 1580; Hackney, Salvation
Army Maternity Hospital, 231; Holborn, British Lying-in Hospital, 484; Finsbury, City of London Lying-in
Hospital, 622; Stepney, East-end Mothers' Home, 377; Lambeth, General Lying-in Hospital, 614, and Clapham
Maternity Hospital, 403.