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 1935
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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| Four weeks ending | Scarlet fever. | Whooping cough. | Diphtheria. | Influenza. | Phthisis. | Cancer. | Bronchitis. | Pneumonia. | Diarrhoea and enteritis. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 26 | — | — | 3 | 3 | 4 | 24 | 9 | 10 | 5 |
| February 23 | — | — | — | 5 | 5 | 27 | 5 | 10 | 8 |
| March 23 | — | — | 3 | 6 | 3 | 24 | 4 | 24 | 6 |
| April 20 | — | — | 1 | 3 | 8 | 21 | 3 | 14 | 7 |
| May 18 | — | — | 1 | — | 6 | 18 | 7 | 7 | 3 |
| June 16 | — | — | 2 | 2 | 4 | 23 | — | 10 | 4 |
| July 13 | — | — | 1 | ] | 7 | 26 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
| August 10 | — | 1 | — | — | 5 | 22 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| September 7 | — | 1 | 3 | — | 10 | 27 | 1 | 5 | 6 |
| October 5 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 5 | 23 | 1 | 9 | 3 |
| November 2 | — | — | — | 2 | 8 | 25 | 3 | 10 | 5 |
| November 30 | — | 1 | 3 | 3 | 9 | 27 | 2 | 4 | 3 |
| December 28 | 1 | — | 1 | 5 | 4 | 30 | 10 | 14 | 7 |
| Totals | 1 | 3 | 19 | 31 | 78 | 317 | 48 | 122 | 64 |
Infant Mortality.
During the year 1935, there were 2,226 births and 175 deaths of infants under the age of one year
in the borough. These figures give an infant mortality rate (deaths of infants under twelve months
of age to each 1,000 births) of 79. This marks a considerable decrease on the figure for the previous
year, which was 93, but it is still higher than the figure for London and for England and Wales.
The following table gives the births and the infant death rates in England and Wales, London, Kensington and the various wards of the borough for the year 1935, and the infant death rates for the previous four years :—
| District. | 1935 | Infant mortality rates in previous four years. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of births. | No. of deaths of children under 1 year of age. | Infant mortality rate. | 1934 | 1933 | 1932 | 1931 | |
| England and Wales | 598,756 | 34,089 | 57 | 59 | 64 | 65 | 60 |
| London | 55,780 | 3,229 | 58 | 67 | 59 | 66 | 65 |
| The Borough | 2,226 | 175 | 79 | 93 | 72 | 98 | 76 |
| North Kensington | 1,566 | 140 | 89 | 102 | 80 | 116 | 86 |
| South Kensington | 609 | 35 | 57 | 75 | 59 | 54 | 44 |
| Wards. | |||||||
| St. Charles | 510 | 44 | 86 | 115 | 53 | 109 | 76 |
| Golborne | 481 | 48 | 100 | 97 | 89 | 112 | 97 |
| Norland | 351 | 36 | 102 | 111 | 117 | 142 | 84 |
| Pembridge | 224 | .2 | 54 | 73 | 67 | 120 | 92 |
| Holland | 158 | 11 | 88 | 133 | 85 | 83 | 54 |
| Earl's Court | 118 | 5 | 42 | 40 | 55 | 22 | 18 |
| Queen's Gate | 69 | 2 | 29 | 51 | 37 | 59 | 59 |
| Redcliffe | 203 | 14 | 69 | 69 | 65 | 70 | 67 |
| Brompton | 61 | — | 40 | 23 | 32 | 14 | |
| Ward unknown | 51 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
There is situated within the Holland ward of the borough the National Children's Adoption
Association hostel where unwanted children are kept until they are adopted. They are mostly
illegitimate and come from poor homes. Three infant deaths occurred in the hostel during the year;
not one was a Kensington child; if the deaths were removed from the statistics, the death rate for
that ward would be reduced to 69.