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 1936
[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. | Diarrhoeaand enteritis. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 25 | — | 3 | 4 | 3 | 10 | 28 | 10 | 20 | 3 |
| February 22 | — | 4 | — | 5 | 9 | 35 | 7 | 19 | 3 |
| March 21 | — | 2 | 1 | 5 | 12 | 20 | 6 | 20 | 5 |
| April 18 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 14 | 2 | 13 | 2 |
| May 16 | — | — | — | 2 | 6 | 27 | 1 | 12 | 4 |
| June 13 | — | 1 | — | — | 12 | 30 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
| July 11 | — | — | — | — | 6 | 19 | 2 | 6 | 3 |
| August 8 | — | — | 1 | — | 3 | 18 | — | 10 | 1 |
| September 5 | — | — | — | 1 | 8 | 18 | 2 | 3 | 3 |
| October 3 | — | — | 1 | 1 | 6 | 28 | 1 | 4 | 6 |
| „ 31 | — | — | 2 | 4 | 5 | 27 | 2 | 7 | 3 |
| November 28 | — | — | — | 3 | 7 | 27 | 4 | 14 | 3 |
| January 2 | — | 1 | 1 | 9 | 10 | 30 | 8 | 25 | 5 |
| Totals | 2 | 13 | 11 | 34 | 105 | 321 | 46 | 160 | 43 |
Infant Mortality.
During the year 1936 there were 2,228 births and 163 deaths of infants under the age of one
year in the borough, which gives an infant mortality rate of 73 per 1,000 births. This marks a
decrease on the figure for 1935 (79), which was itself lower than that for 1934 (93).
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 1936, and the infant death rates for the previous four years:—
| District. | 1936. | Infant mortality rates in previous four years. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of births. | No. of deaths of children under 1 year of age. | Infant mortality rate. | 1935 | 1934 | 1933 | 1932 | |
| England and Wales | 605,292 | 35.712 | 59 | 57 | 59 | 64 | 65 |
| London | 56,273 | 3.714 | 66 | 58 | 67 | 59 | 66 |
| The Borough | 2,228 | 163 | 73 | 79 | 93 | 72 | 98 |
| North Kensington | 1,584 | 126 | 79 | 89 | 102 | 80 | 116 |
| South Kensington | 629 | 37 | 59 | 57 | 75 | 59 | 54 |
| Wards. | |||||||
| St. Charles | 513 | 33 | 64 | 86 | 115 | 53 | 109 |
| Golborne | 445 | 42 | 94 | 100 | 97 | 89 | 112 |
| Norland | 355 | 37 | 104 | 102 | 111 | 117 | 142 |
| Pembridge | 271 | 14 | 52 | 54 | 73 | 67 | 120 |
| Holland | 162 | 101 | 62 | 88 | 133 | 85 | 83 |
| Earl's Court | 116 | 12 | 103 | 42 | 40 | 55 | 22 |
| Queen's Gate | 107 | 1 | 9 | 29 | 51 | 37 | 59 |
| Redcliffe | 161 | 12 | 74 | 69 | 69 | 65 | 70 |
| Brompton | 83 | 24 | - | 40 | 23 | 32 | |
| Ward unknown | 15 | - | - | — | — | — | — |
*This figure includes 7 deaths of infants from the National Children's Adoption Association hostel, which is
situated in the Holland ward. In this institution unwanted infants are admitted and kept until they are
adopted; they are generally illegitimate and come from all parts of the country. None of the infants from this
home who died during the year was a Kensington child, and if these deaths were removed from the statistics the
death rate for the Holland ward would be only 18.