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7
Stillbirths.—During 1929, 94 stillbirths were registered in the Borough in accordance
with the provisions of the Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1926. Of these, 24 occurred
to residents of other localities; on the other hand 23 stillbirths occurred outside the Borough
to Paddington residents. The nett number for the Borough was therefore 93, a figure
equivalent to 4T per cent. of the total births recorded. Of the 93 stillbirths, males numbered
54 and females 39, 5 of the males and 3 of the females being illegitimate.

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.
During the year, 2,039 live births were notified to the Medical Officer of Health. There
were also 86 stillbirths notified. Of the 2,125 living and stillbirths notified, 47.2 per cent.
were notified by medical practitioners, 37.5 per cent. by midwives, 2.6 per cent. by parents,
and 12.7 per cent. by medical students or other persons.
A comparison of the Notification Register with the returns supplied by the local Registrars
of Births shows that 97.9 per cent. of the live births and 93.6 per cent. of the stillbirths
occurring within the Borough were duly notified. It will be seen that only a small
proportion of live births are not notified and so escape being brought to the notice of the
Medical Officer of Health until they come to be registered within the statutory period of
six weeks. In nearly every case of default a cautionary letter was sent to the person
responsible, and in no instance did the Maternity and Child Welfare Committee consider
it necessary to institute legal proceedings.
DEATHS.
The number of deaths registered during the year as having taken place in the Borough
was 2,344.
Of these, 550 were of persons whose residence was not in Paddington, 452 dying in
Paddington Institutions and 98 in other places in the Borough.
There were also reported to the Registrar-General 417 deaths of Paddington persons
whose deaths occurred outside the Borough.
This correction gives the nett number of deaths for Paddington as 2,211, making an annual
death-rate of 15.45.