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 1937
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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| St. Charles | 40 |
| Golborne | 47 |
| Norland | 27 |
| Pembridge | 45 |
| Holland | 52 |
| Earl's Court | 30 |
| Queen's Gate | 28 |
| Redcliffe | 53 |
| Brompton | 22 |
| The number of deaths from this disease was 23 more than in the previous year | |
Table showing the number of deaths in 1937 from certain diseases of public health importance, arranged in four-weekly periods.
| Four weeks ending | Scarlet fever. | Whooping cough. | Diphtheria. | Influenza. | Phthisis. | Cancer. | Bronchitis. | Pneumonia. | Diarrhoea and enteritis. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 30 | - | - | _ | 66 | 17 | 25 | 11 | 34 | 4 |
| February 27 | — | — | — | 10 | 8 | 27 | 8 | 16 | 3 |
| March 27 | — | 1 | 1 | 4 | 7 | 27 | 5 | 20 | — |
| April 24 | 1 | — | 2 | 1 | 15 | 22 | 6 | 17 | 1 |
| May 22 | — | 1 | — | 2 | 7 | 26 | 2 | 10 | 4 |
| June 19 | — | — | — | 2 | 11 | 41 | 1 | 7 | 5 |
| July 17 | 1 | 1 | — | — | 5 | 25 | 1 | 8 | 7 |
| August 14 | — | - | — | — | 2 | 24 | — | 7 | 1 |
| September 11 | — | 1 | — | 4 | 6 | 25 | 1 | 6 | 5 |
| October 9 | _ | _ | — | 2 | 9 | 23 | 1 | 4 | 1 |
| November 6 | _ | __ | _ | 4 | 4 | 30 | 2 | 8 | 7 |
| December 4 | _ | 1 | 1 | 3 | 15 | 21 | 5 | 19 | 2 |
| January 1 | — | - | — | 2 | 8 | 28 | 12 | 13 | 7 |
| Totals | 2 | 5 | 4 | 100 | 114 | 344 | 55 | 169 | 47 |
Infant Mortality.
During the year 1937 there were 2,125 births and 177 deaths of infants under the age of one
year in the borough, which gives an infant mortality rate of 83 per 1,000 births. The corresponding
figure for 1936 was 73. The rise in the death-rate has been caused by an increase in the number of
deaths of illegitimate children from 24 (15 per cent. of the total deaths) in 1936 to 42 (24 per cent.
of total deaths in 1937). The death-rate among legitimate infants is 71 per 1,000 births in 1937,
among illegitimate infants it is 181.
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 1937, and the infant death rates for the previous four years:—
| District. | 1937. | Infant mortality rates in previous four years. | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of births. | No. of deaths of children under 1 year of age. | Infant mortality rate. | 1936 | 1935 | 1934 | 1933 | |
| England and Wales | 610,850 | 34.917 | 58 | 59 | 57 | 59 | 64 |
| London | 55,011 | 3,265 | 60 | 66 | 58 | 67 | 59 |
| The Borough | 2,125 | 177 | 83 | 73 | 79 | 93 | 72 |
| North Kensington | 1,572 | 129 | 81 | 79 | 89 | 102 | 80 |
| South Kensington | 538 | 48 | 89 | 59 | 57 | 75 | 59 |
| Wards. | |||||||
| St. Charles | 566 | 36 | 64 | 64 | 86 | 115 | 53 |
| Golborne | 473 | 47 | 99 | 94 | 100 | 97 | 89 |
| Norland | 294 | 21 | 71 | 104 | 102 | 111 | 117 |
| Pembridge | 239 | 25 | 105 | 52 | 54 | 73 | 67 |
| Holland | 172 | 16* | 93 | 62 | 88 | 133 | 85 |
| Earl's Court | 121 | 9 | 74 | 103 | 42 | 40 | 55 |
| Queen's Gate | 65 | 4 | 62 | 9 | 29 | 51 | 37 |
| Redcliffe | 126 | 17 | 135 | 74 | 69 | 69 | 65 |
| Brompton | 54 | 2 | 37 | 24 | — | 40 | 23 |
| 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 52.