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
Battersea 1924
Report on the health of the Metropolitan Borough of Battersea for the year 1924
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The distribution of the 196 infant deaths and the infant mortality-rates, both for the registration sub-districts and for the Wards, are shown in the following table:—
| Registration Sub-Districts. | Births. | Deaths of Infants under 1 year of age. | Infant Mortality per 1,000 births. | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| m. | f. | total | |||
| East Battersea | 1,411 | 51 | 44 | 95 | 67.3 |
| North-West Batter-sea | 1,071 | 46 | 26 | 72 | 67.2 |
| South-West Batter-sea | 657 | 14 | 15 | 29 | 44.1 |
| The Borough | 3,139 | 111 | 85 | 196 | 62.4 |
| Ward. | |||||
| 1. Nine Elms | 606 | 22 | 19 | 41 | 67.7 |
| 2. Park | 382 | 9 | 14 | 23 | 60.2 |
| 3. Latchmere | 381 | 14 | 12 | 26 | 68.2 |
| 4. Shaftesbury | 264 | 15 | 4 | 19 | 72. 0 |
| 5. Church | 390 | 15 | 8 | 23 | 59.0 |
| 6. Winstanley | 484 | 24 | 13 | 37 | 76.4 |
| 7. St. John | 133 | 6 | 4 | 10 | 75.2 |
| 8. Bolingbroke | 280 | 4 | 5 | 9 | 32.1 |
| 9. Broomwood | 219 | 2 | 6 | 8 | 36.5 |
The effect of environment is well illustrated in the above
table by the infant mortality rates for the lower wards which in the
main are peopled by a less prosperous class of the community.
The rates in all these lower wards during 1924 are, with the
exception of Shaftesbury ward, much higher than in the previous
year, partly due to the high incidence of influenza and respiratory
diseases and partly, there is no doubt, to the serious overcrowding
resulting from the housing shortage and its attendant evils. In
the upper wards, Bolingbroke and Broomwood, there has only
been a very slight increase as compared with 1923. The most
marked increase is that shown in St. John Ward, where the
infant mortality for 1924 is 75.2 per 1,000 births as against 25.6,
or three times the rate in the previous year. It is satisfactory
to note, however, that the infant mortality of the borough for
1924 is lower than in any previous year with the exception of
1923.
The next table shows the incidence of mortality from the
chief diseases of infancy in the first and second trimesters and
during the ages 6 to 12 months:—