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
Kensington 1913
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The births occurring every year in Kensington have fallen in round numbers from 4,500 in
1880, to 3,300 in the present year The steady decline in the birth-rate is shown in Table V.
Appendix, p. 75, where the number of births and the birth-rates both for London and Kensington
are given for cach quinquennial period since 1881. The figures for each year were given in the
Annual Report for 1908. The fact that the total number of births has risen by , from 3,190
in 1910 to 3,335 in the present year, affords some hope that a limit may have been set to a
downward movement which will end in national extinction if it is not checked.
To estimate the effect of social status on the birth-rate in North and South Kensington, the female population of child-bearing age has been obtained for the two districts from the Registrar General
| District. | Females, aged 15-45. | Single. | Married. | Widowed. | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Kensington | 24,259 | 13,021 | 10,549 | 689 | |
| South Kensington | 36,662 | 28,976 | 6,755 | 931 | |
| The Borough | 60,921 | 41,997 | 17,304 | 1,620 | |
The legitimate birth rate, expressed as the number of legitimate births per 1,000 married females, aged 15 45 years, is shown in the following table:—
| 1918. | North Kensington. | South Kensington. | The Borough. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Legitimate births per 1,000 married females aged 15-45 | 219 | 128 | 183 |
| Illegitimate births per 1,000 unmarried and widowed females, 15-45 | 8 | 2 | 4 |
| Legitimate and illegitimate births per 1,000 of total population | 27 | 11 | 19 |
Calculated on the total population the birth rate in the South is only two-fifths of the rate
in the North. If the births are shown in proportion to the married women of conceptive age
the position in the South is improved, and the birth rate is increased to three-fifths of the rate
for the northern half of the Borough. Hut even so there is still a wide discrepancy resulting
from the fact that those who can best afford to bring up their children have the smallest families.
Illegitimate Births. The illegitimate births numbered 163, and were equivalent to a rate
of 9 per 10,000 persons living as compared with a rate of 9 for London in the year 1912. 105
illegitimate births occurred in North Kensington and 58 in South Kensington.
Calculated on the unmarried and widowed female population the rate for North Kensington,
as the figures in the above table show, was four times higher than in South Kensington. Had
no allowance been made for the excess of unmarried females in South Kensington, the rates
calculated on the total populations for North and South would have been as 12 to 7.
Notification of Births.—The Notification of Births Act, 1907, requires every birth to be
notified within 36 hours to the Medical Officer of Health, either by the father of the child or by some
person in attendance upon the mother in her confinement, and applies to still-born children as well
as to children who are born alive. Out of the 3,173 live births registered as having occurred in
Kensington, 2,856 or 90 per cent. were notified to the Medical Officer of Health. The unnotified
births accordingly amounted to 317, or 10 per cent of the number registered during the year.
The subjoined figures show that 3,110 births in all were notified, and that the notification certificates
received from various sources numbered 3,127, and included 17 duplicates.