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
London County Council 1912
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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Annual Report of the London County Council, 1912.
The diagram (B.) facing page 5 shows the London birth-rate in each year since 1850, in
relation to the mean birth-rate of the period 1851-1912. In connection with this diagram it should be
noted that the registration of births was not made compulsory until the beginning of 1875; before that
year many births were probably unregistered. From the year 1885 onwards the number of births
has been corrected as far as possible by the exclusion of those which occurred in the chief lying-in
institutions in cases where the mother resided outside the County of London.
Birth rates
in London
sanitary
districts.
The following table shows the birth-rate in the several sanitary districts per 1,000 persons in the period 1907-11 and in the year 1912:—
| Metropolitan borough. | Births, 1912 (52 weeks). (a) | Birth-rate per 1,000 persons living. (a) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1907-11. | 1912. | ||
| Paddington | 3,021 | 22.2 | 21.3 |
| Kensington | 3,326 | 19.4 | 19.4 |
| Hammersmith | 2,880 | 25.4 | 23.5 |
| Fulham | 4,213 | 29.2 | 27.2 |
| Chelsea | 1,229 | 20.9 | 18.8 |
| Westminster, City of | 2,348 | 16.4 | 15.0 |
| St. Marylebone | 2,243 | 21.3 | 19.4 |
| Hampstead | 1,281 | 15.7 | 14.9 |
| St. Pancras | 5,367 | 25.7 | 24.9 |
| Islington | 8,213 | 25.6 | 25.2 |
| Stoke Newington | 1.033 | 20.4 | 20.5 |
| Hackney | 5,266 | 24.4 | 23.7 |
| Holborn | 902 | 19.8 | 18.8 |
| Finsbury | 2,575 | 31.3 | 30.0 |
| London, City of | 185 | 12.5 | 9.9 |
| Shoreditch | 3,562 | 32.4 | 32.3 |
| Bethnal Green | 3,902 | 32.4 | 30.6 |
| Stepney | 8,533 | 33.8 | 30.9 |
| Poplar | 5,045 | 31.8 | 31.3 |
| Southwark | 5,587 | 30.7 | 29.5 |
| Bermondsey | 3,872 | 31.9 | 31.0 |
| Lambeth | 6,952 | 25.4 | 23.4 |
| Battersea | 4,258 | 26.8 | 25.5 |
| Wandsworth | 6,757 | 23.6 | 21.0 |
| Camberwell | 6,422 | 25.5 | 24.6 |
| Deptford | 2,896 | 28.3 | 26.6 |
| Greenwich | 2,391 | 25.9 | 25.0 |
| Lewisham | 3,356 | 22.7 | 20.4 |
| Woolwich | 2,738 | 25.0 | 22.5 |
| London | 110,353 | 25.9 | 24.5 |
It will be seen from the above table that the birth-rates of the several sanitary districts vary
greatly, ranging when the rates for the year 1912 are compared, from 9.9 in the City of London,
to 32.3 in Shoreditch.
Notification
of births
Under the Notification of Births Act, 1907, the London County Council receives particulars of the births which have been notified to the medical officers of health of the several sanitary districts in London, and from the information thus received the following table has been prepared:—
| Metropolitan borough. | Total births notified (corrected for institutions). | Stillbirths (corrected). | Births less stillbirths (corrected). | Births registered (corrected). | Excess of registered over notified births (corrected). |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paddington | 4,157 | 85 | 4,072 | 3,021 | — 1,136 |
| Kensington | 3^244 | 94 | 3,150 | 3,326 | + 82 |
| Hammersmith | 2,467 | 45 | 2,422 | 2,880 | + 413 |
| Fulham | 3,422 | 63 | 3,359 | 4,213 | + 791 |
| Chelsea | 1,004 | 22 | 982 | 1 229 | + 225 |
| Westminster, City of | 1,670 | 34 | 1,636 | 2 348 | + 678 |
| St. Marylebone | 2,499 | 86 | 2,413 | 2,243 | — 256 |
| Hampstead | 1,257 | 23 | 1,234 | 1,281 | + 24 |
| St. Pancras | 5,069 | 125 | 4,944 | 5,367 | + 298 |
| Islington | 7,644 | 246 | 7,398 | 8,213 | + 569 |
Continued on next page.
(a) See footnote (i) page 4.