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 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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to 1927 and 1928 to 1935, together with the deaths in childbirth in 1935, are shown in the following table :— Table 23.
| Metropolitan boroughs arranged in topographical order | Childbirth deaths per 1,000 live births | Number of deaths in ohildbirth | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1920-27 | 1928-35 | 1935 | |||||||
| Puerperal fever | Other causes | Total | Puerperal fever | Other causes | Total | Puerperal fever | Other causes | Total | |
| Paddington | 1.5 | 1.8 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 2.1 | 4.0 | 3 | 5 | 8 |
| Kensington | 1.9 | 1.7 | 3.6 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 4 | 1 | 5 |
| Hammersmith | 2.1 | 1.7 | 3.8 | 1.9 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Fulham | 1.9 | 1.6 | 3.5 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 3.9 | 3 | 3 | 6 |
| Chelsea | 1.9 | 2.9 | 4.8 | 1.8 | 2.3 | 4.1 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Westminster | 1.5 | 2.9 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 2.6 | 5.1 | 1 | - | 1 |
| •' | |||||||||
| St. Marylebone | 2.1 | 2.6 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 | 5.0 | 2 | _ | 2 |
| Hampstead | 1.8 | 1.6 | 3.4 | 1.3 | 2.1 | 3.4 | - | 1 | 1 |
| St. Pancras | 1.4 | 1.7 | 3.1 | 1.4 | 1.9 | 3.3 | 5 | 7 | 12 |
| Islington | 1.4 | 1.5 | 2.9 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 4 | 7 | 11 |
| Stoke Newington | 2.5 | 1.9 | 4.4 | 1.4 | 3.2 | 4.6 | — | - | - |
| Hackney | 1.8 | 1.6 | 3.3 | 1.3 | 1.9 | 3.2 | 2 | 7 | 9 |
| Holborn | 2.9 | 0.6 | 3.5 | 2.4 | 1.4 | 3.8 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Finsbury | 0.9 | 1.4 | 2.3 | 1.7 | 1.0 | 2.7 | 1 | — | 1 |
| City of London | 2.0 | 1.0 | 3.0 | 6.7 | — | 6.7 | 1 | - | 1 |
| Shoreditch | 1.1 | 1.2 | 2.3 | 1.2 | 1.5 | 2.7 | 2 | 2 | 4 |
| Bethnal Green | 0.9 | 1.6 | 2.5 | 1.5 | 1.1 | 2.6 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| Stepney | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 1.0 | 1.6 | 2.6 | 2 | 3 | |
| Poplar | 1.2 | 1.7 | 2.9 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.8 | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| Southwark | 1.3 | 1.4 | 2.7 | 1.6 | 1.4 | 3.0 | 2 | 5 | 7 |
| Bermondsey | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.9 | 1.5 | 1.5 | 3.0 | - | - | - |
| Lambeth | 1.8 | 1.3 | 3.1 | 1.3 | 1.3 | 2.6 | 4 | 6 | 10 |
| Battersea | 0.9 | 1.9 | 2.8 | 1.2 | 1.8 | 3.0 | - | 4 | 4 |
| Wandsworth | 1.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 2.0 | 1.9 | 3.9 | 5 | 5 | 10 |
| .Camberwell | 1.7 | 1.5 | 3.2 | 2.0 | 1.6 | 3.6 | 6 | 4 | 10 |
| Deptford | 1.6 | 1.7 | 3.3 | 1.9 | 1.3 | 3.2 | - | 1 | 1 |
| Greenwich | 1.0 | 1.4 | 2.4 | 1.7 | 1.9 | 3.6 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| Lewisham | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.0 | 16 | 1.6 | 3.2 | 3 | 9 | 12 |
| Woolwich | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.8 | 1.8 | 1.8 | 3.6 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| London | 1.44 | 1.64 | 3.08 | 1. 64 | 1. 69 | 3.33 | 64 | 80 | 144 |
The deaths in childbirth in 1933 are shown in the above table but not the deathrates,
as, owing to the smallness of the figures, the rates for a single year may be
misleading. The maternal mortality rates for each metropolitan borough in 1935
and for London as a whole annually since 1922 are set out in tables 37 and 39.
It will be seen that the average annual deaths from childbirth per thousand
live-births for the eight years 1928-35 is higher than for the eight years 1920-27.
The increase in the puerperal fever death-rate is .20, or 14 per cent., and in other
causes .05, or 3 per cent.
The figures in the following tables have been prepared from information specially
supplied by the Registrar-General relating to deaths attributed to childbirth
among London residents in each metropolitan borough for the four years 1931-34.
In one or two instances all the particulars required were not available, and for this
reason the totals may be found to differ slightly from the corresponding totals of
the Registrar-General's returns, but such differences are negligible.