London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972

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Paddington 1926

[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Paddington, Metropolitan Borough of]

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The following table shows the birth-rate during each of the last six years in England and Wales, in London, in Paddington and in each of the wards of the Borough:—

1926Birth-rates.
No. of Births.Birthrates.19251924192319221921
England and Wales694,89717.818.318.819.720.422.4
London78,82517.118.018.620.120.922.1
Paddington2,24815.3215.8817.1117.9218.7919.63
Wards—
Queen's Park20012.4812.6313.7615.2817.2618.49
Harrow Road40414.4416.0716.0118.3619.8820.23
Maida Vale35615.8414.0919.3519.9519.0020.89
Town13617.9223.5424.0523.8425.2225.09
Church42623.94
Westbourne44218.0318.1419.9321.0420.1422.65
Lancaster Gate, West616.297.828.378.6910.109.56
Lancaster Gate, East738.799.499.055.689.499.59
Hyde Park15012.1411.9413.4613.7215.0314.92

The following table shows the course of the birth-rate in the Borough in the past:—

BIRTH-RATES.

Paddington.

1881-188526.66
1886-189024.89
1891-189524.44
1896-190023.29
1901-190522.89
1906-191021.14
1911-191520.88
1916-192017.63
192119.63
192218.79
192317.92
192417.11
192515.88
192615.32

Illegitimate Births.—These were 197 in number, or 8.76 per cent. of the total number of births.
The proportion of illegitimate births varies remarkably in the different wards as is shown in the
table below—

Rate of Illegitimate Births per 100 Total Births.

Ward.Rate.
Queen's Park5.00
Harrow Road5.19
Maida Vale10.39
Town8.08
Church7.98
Westbourne7.69
Lancaster Gate, West21.31
Lancaster Gate, East17.80
Hyde Park16.00

Births in Institutions.

Local.Legitimate.Illegitimate.Total.
Queen Charlotte's Hospital21518233
Other Lying-in Hospitals11819
Other Hospitals42749
Poor Law Institutions8412

Notification of Births Acts, 1907 and 1915.—These Acts require the father of a child, if actually
residing in the house where a birth takes place at the time of its occurrence, and any person in attendance
upon the mother at the time of, or within six hours after, the birth, to give notice
in writing of the birth to the Medical Officer of Health of the district in which the child
is born, in the manner provided. Notification applies in the case where a child has issued forth
from its mother after the expiration of the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy, whether alive or dead.
In practice, it Is almost always the doctor or midwife who notifies a birth, and not the father of
the child.