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 1961
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Kensington Borough]
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The following table gives the adjusted Kensington birth and death rates compared with the provisional rates for London and for England and Wales for the year 1961-
| Kensington adjusted | London | England and Wales | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. of births per 1,000 population | 14.04 | 18.7 | 17.4 | |
| No. of deaths per 1,000 population | 10.24 | 11.9 | 12.0 | |
Infant Death Rate. This rate for 1961 was 20.9, a very slight
increase compared with the rate for the previous year of 20.8. The
provisional rate for the County of London was 21.5 and for England and
Wales was 21.4.
The following table shows the rates for the last five years:-
| Year | Kensington | London | England and Wales |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 20.9 | 21.5 | 21.4 |
| 1960 | 20.8 | . 21.6 | 21.7 |
| 1959 | 24.8 | 22.3 | 22.0 |
| 1958 | 22.7 | 22.6 | 22.5 |
| 1957 | 28.2 | 22.0 | 23.1 |
It will be seen that the infant death rate for Kensington was
practically the same as last year's rate, Variations in the infant
mortality rate are contributed partly to by perinatal mortality, i.e.
stillbirths and deaths in the first week of life, prematurity (see table
below) and the statistical difficulties arising from the small numbers
involved. Just over two deaths suffice to increase the rate by one.
Just over two deaths suffice to increase the rate by one.
| Year | Number of deaths of babies under one week of age | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Age in days at death | Total | No. of deaths due to prematurity | ||||||
| 1 or under | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | |||
| 1957 | 37 | 5 | 7 | 2 | 1 | — | 52 | 35 |
| 1958 | 37 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 50 | 29 |
| 1959 | 34 | 3 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 52 | 38 |
| 1960 | 27 | 4 | - | 4 | - | 2 | 37 | 22 |
| 1961 | 30 | 6 | - | 3 | — | 1 | 4o | 21 |
| 1961 | 1960 | |||||||
| Neo-natal mortality rate (i.e. deaths of infants under 4 weeks per 1,000 total live births) | 13.66 | 18.52 | ||||||
| Early neo-natal mortality rate (i.e. deaths of infants under one week per 1,000 total live births) | 12.14 | 12.02 | ||||||
| Perinatal mortality rate (i.e. stillbirths and deaths of infants under one week per 1,000 total live and still births) | 28.36 | 25.95 | ||||||