Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Woolwich]
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16
Notification of Births.—Notification of a birth within 36
hours of birth is a statutory duty of the father of the child,
and of any person in attendance on the mother.
During the year, 3,463 births were notified. This is at the
rate of 95% of the registered births which compares with 97%
in 1919, the highest ever recorded in the Borough. 2,064
notifications were received from midwives, 435 from medical
practitioners, 150 from the British Hospital for Mothers and
Babies, 43 from the Woolwich Infirmary, 92 from the Military
Families Hospital, and 679 from other persons. Cautionary
letters were sent to parents, midwives or medical practitioners
in each case where no notification had been received of
a birth subsequently registered in the Borough.
The following table, No. 3, shews the number of births in
each year since 1915, the birth-rate for the same period for
Woolwich, London, England and Wales, and the number of
live and still births notified each year.
TABLE No. 3.
Year | Woolwich. | London | England & Wales | Woolwich. | Percentage of births notified | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
No. of births | Birthrate | Birth- rate | No. of live births notified | No. of Stillbirths | |||
1915 | 2815 | 20.9 | 22.6 | 21.8 | 2445 | 75 | 87 |
1916 | 3074 | 21.7 | 23.0 | 21.6 | 2642 | 77 | 86 |
1917 | 2698 | 17.1 | 17.4 | 17.8 | 2550 | 88 | 95 |
1918 | 2578 | 16.5 | 16.1 | 17.7 | 2418 | 70 | 94 |
1919 | 2737 | 19.3 | 18.3 | 18.5 | 2645 | 67 | 97 |
1920 | 3658 | 24.7 | 26.5 | 25.4 | 3163 | 112 | 95 |