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19
BIRTHS.
The number of births registered by the Edmonton Registrar, Mr. Judd,
was 1,912 (996 boys and 916 girls), which includes 17 births that took place in
the Edmonton Workhouse, born of mothers belonging to Edmonton. The
figures for 1912, 1911, and 1910 were:—1,844, 1,921, and 1,961. No births
occurred at the Strand Workhouse. Sixty-four 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 14 births (8 males and 6 females) which had taken place when Edmonton
mothers were residing temporarily our of their district; 9 of these infants
were stated to be born in wedlock. Thus the nett total of births was 1,862. Of
these births 58 (or 3.11 per cent.) were illegitimate. The birth rate per
thousand inhabitants is therefore 27.98, compared with 27.12 last year.
Notification of Births' Act, 1907. This came into force here on
April 28th, 1908. During this year 1,998 births were entered in our register;
of these 1,045 were males and 950 females; in 3 cases the sex was not declared;
120 (or 6 per cent.) of the whole number were born out of wedlock, and 11
more were of doubtful legitimacy. Sixty-two children were declared "stillborn."
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 63 children styled "still-born" buried during
1913, and for 1912-11-10 the figures were 69, 83, 80. For work donein visiting
infants and their mothers, see section, "The Woman Inspector and her Work."
In a previous paragraph it is noted that 1,912 births were registered during 1913.
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-six pairs of twins arrived, and one set of triplets.
In my monthly report to the Sanitary Committee on the 8th January I
reported a contravention of this Act by a midwife resident in the Council's area.
The matter came under the consideration of the Sanitary Committee and
Council several times, and ultimately on the 13th May they decided to take no
legal action.
The birth-rate (27.98) for 1913 is 0.86 higher than last year, and is much
higher than 23.9, the birth-rate of England and Wales for 1913. The birthrate
for the preceding six years will be found in Column 5 of Table I.