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 1945
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for London County Council]
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4
Illegitimacy
There were 5,178 illegitimate births (11.4 per cent. of the total live births).
Percentages in recent years are :—
| London | England and Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | 6.3 | 4.3 |
| 1939 | 5.9 | 4.2 |
| 1940 | 6.1 | 4.3 |
| 1941 | 7.4 | 5.3 |
| 1942 | 7.4 | 5.5 |
| 1943 | 8.2 | 6.3 |
| 1944 | 9.3 | 7.2 |
| 1945 | 11.4 | 9.4 |
Deaths under one year among illegitimate infants amounted to 63 per 1,000
live births compared with a rate of 42 for legitimate births. The corresponding
rates in 1944 were 77 and 48 respectively. A detailed comparison of deaths in the
legitimate and illegitimate groups is given in table 5, page 16.
Still births
There were 1,095 still births in 1945 or 2.35 per cent. of all births (legitimate 2.27, illegitimate 2.92). Rates in recent years are :—
| London | England and Wales | |
|---|---|---|
| 1938 | 3.0 | 3.8 |
| 1939 | 2.9 | 3.8 |
| 1940 | 3.0 | 3.6 |
| 1941 | 3.0 | 3.4 |
| 1942 | 2.9 | 3.3 |
| 1943 | 2.5 | 3.0 |
| 1944 | 2.5 | 2.8 |
| 1945 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
Mortality
With regard to mortality, detailed figures are shown in tables 1 and 2 on pages
12 and 13. Mortality from infectious disease is discussed below, under that heading.
For other causes of death the trend in recent years is indicated by the diagrams
on page 5.
The discontinuity between 1939 and 1940 is attributable to two causes. In the
first place, the Registrar-General abandoned the rules of selection which had hitherto
operated in multiple causes of death, and, as from 1940, accepted the principal cause
of death shown on the medical certificate. In the previous decade the increasing
mention of heart disease on the death certificate of old people jointly with, for
example, bronchitis, had led, under the rules of precedence, to an artificial increase in
the number of deaths assigned to heart disease. One of the immediate effects of the
revised procedure was a transfer of deaths from myocarditis to bronchitis. Similarly,
the selective rules had given precedence to diabetes if mentioned as an associated
(though only a contributory) cause, and the new procedure transferred deaths from
diabetes to other causes. In addition, the International List of Causes of Death,
which was revised in 1938, was applied in 1940 in accordance with international
agreement. The chief movements resulting from these alterations are estimated*
to be:
Cause
Approximate change as a
percentage of those
formerly assigned to
this cause
Influenza -11 per cent.
Cancer - 3 „
Diabetes - 30 „
Heart disease - 10 „
Other circulatory diseases - 6 „
Bronchitis + 100 „
Pneumonia + 5 „
Other respiratory diseases + 50 „
Nephritis + 12 „
Diseases of pregnancy, etc. + 10 „
*Based on the dual classification of deaths for England and Wales, 1939.