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
Coulsdon and Purley 1946
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Coulsdon]
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VITAL STATISTICS.
The following table gives the average population, birth, death, maternal and other important mortality rates for the quinquennial periods 1915-1944, together with the actual figures for 1945 and 1946.
| Rates per 1,000 population. | 1915-1919. | 1920-1924. | 1925-1929. | 1930-1934. | 1935-1939. | 1940-1944. | 1945. | 1946. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Birth rate | 13.9 | 13.5 | 12.9 | 11.6 | 12.8 | 15.2 | 14.0 | 17.6 |
| Percentage illegitimate | 5.7% | 3.4% | 3 7% | 2.8% | 3.4% | 3.9% | 5.0% | 3.4% |
| Stillbirth rate | — | — | — | — | 0.43 | 0.48 | 0.43 | 0.49 |
| Death rate | 8.5 | 7.4 | 7.0 | 7.4 | 8.3 | 11.4 | 10.2 | 9.8 |
| Cancer death rate | 1.18 | 0.96 | 1.15 | 1.35 | 1.19 | 1.70 | 1.75 | 1.93 |
| Tuberculosis death rate (per 100,000 population) | 72 | 57 | 36 | 38 | 35 | 48 | 29 | 44 |
| Violence (including Suicide) | 0.19 | 0.44 | 0.35 | 0.32 | 0.46 | 0.82 | 0.41 | 0.24 |
| Maternal mortality rate (per 1,000 live and still births) | 3.20 | 2.08 | 2.66 | 3.21 | 2.27 | 2.10 | Nil | 2.71 |
| Infant mortality rate (per 1,000 registered births) | 44 | 28 | 38 | 32 | 38 | 40 | 32 | 25 |
| Neo-natal mortality rate | — | — | — | — | 26 | 28 | 28 | 19 |
| Estimated population | 19,073 | 21,351 | 28,950 | 41,616 | 53,084 | 49,880 | 53,460 | 60,390 |
BIRTHS.
During the year 1946, 1,065 births were registered as occurring in
the District, of which 544 were male and 521 were female. It will be seen
by reference to the above table that this is equal to an annual birth rate
of 17.6 per 1,000 population, as compared with 14.0 in 1945, and that a
considerable improvement in the local birth rate has occurred during the
war years. This rate for 1946 was, in fact, the highest yet recorded in
this District, the next highest being 17.4 in 1943 and 17.1 in 1942. The
evidence to date suggests that this wartime and post-war tendency is
continuing and it will be both interesting and important to note its
future trend. The increase in 1946 would in part correspond with the
return of men and women from the Forces but the absence of any
tendency to decrease to date raises the question whether and to what
extent it will continue into the future. The repercussions on social and
economic life are obvious.
The Birth Rate for England and Wales was 19.1 in 1946.
Illegitimacy.—In 1946, of the births registered, 37 were illegitimate
(12 males and 25 females), this being 11 less than in the preceding year
and 2 less than in 1944. This post-war decrease in the percentage of
illegitimate births corresponds with that which occurred after 1918 and
is a tendency which it is hoped will continue. It forms one index of the
attitude to marriage in the community, which, from other evidence, e.g.
the greatly increased number of applications for divorce, has not appeared
too healthy of recent years, and suggests that whatever the attitude in
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