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BIRTHS.
The number of births registered by the Edmonton registrar, Mr. Judd, was
1,946 (989 boys and 957 girls), which includes 17 births that took place in the
Edmonton Workhouse, born of mothers belonging to Edmonton, and 24 of
Belgian refugees. The figures for 1913, 1912 and 1911 were:—1,912, 1,844 at|d
1,921. No births occured at the Strand Workhouse. Seventy-two births
which occurred at Edmonton Workhouse, born of mothers who are not
Edmonton residents, are excluded from our statistics, just as foreign deaths are.
The Registrar-General reported 9 births (6 males and 3 females) which had
taken place when Edmonton mothers -frere residing temporarily out of their
district; 6 of these infants were stated to be born in wedlock. Thus the nett
total of births -of births was 1,859, excluding 24 Belgians. Of these 1,859
births, 67 (or 3-60 per cent) were illegitimate; there were no illegitimate Belgian
births. The birth-rate per thousand inhabitants is therefore 27 25, compared
with 27-98 last year; including Belgian births, the rate would be 27-41.
Notification of Births Act, 1907. This came into force here on
April 28th, 1908. During this year 1,928 births were entered in our register;
of these, 968 were males and 959 females; in one case the sex was not declared;
104 (or 5 per cent.) of the whole number were born out of wedlock, and 5 more
were of doubtful legitimacy. Eighty-two children were declared "still-born."
It will be interesting to note the future effect of this Act on the number of
"still-born" burials at our Cemetery. Mr. Clement Bugg, Superintendent
there, informs me that there were 62 children styled "still-born" buried during
1914, and for 1913-12-11 the figures were 63, 69 and 83. For work done in
visiting infants and their mothers, see section "The Women Inspectors and their
Work." In a previous paragraph it is noted that 1,946 births were registered
during 1914. The figures of notification and registration will, of course, never
coincide, but they show that few, if any, births escape notification in accordance
with the Act. Twenty-one pairs of twins arrived, and no triplets.
Besides, there were 26 births amongst Belgian women who were confined
in Edmonton Workhouse; of these, one was still-born.
The birth-rate (27.25) for 1914 is 0.73 lower than last year, but is much
higher than 23.8, the birth-rate of England and Wales for 1914. The birth-rate
for the preceding six years will be found in Column 5 of Table 1.
The births were distributed in the Wards as follows: