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
Marylebone 1910
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for St. Marylebone, Metropolitan Borough]
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(b) Notifications. The Notification of Births Act, 1907, which came into
force in the Borough on the 15th June, 1908, has continued to work smoothly
during 1910. The total number of notifications received was 4,052. All persons
failing to notify, whose names and addresses were revealed by the returns of the
district registrars, were either visited or written to and requested to give an
explanation of the failure to comply with the requirements of the Act. In
practically all cases the reason given was ignorance of the existence of the Act
and of the fact of its adoption by the Borough Council. It is believed that as a
result of the work during 1910, the visits by women inspectors and the reminder
letters sent out, great improvement will be noted in the future in connection with
notifications under the Act, large numbers of persons having been made aware
of the requirement to notify.
No prosecutions were instituted during the year against persons failing to
comply with the provisions of the Act.
The following are the sources of the notifications received during the year:—
| 1909. | 1910. | |
|---|---|---|
| From Parents | 386 or 11.28 per cent. | 768 or 1893 percent. |
| „ Doctors | 400 or 11.69 „ | 387 or 9.54 „ |
| „ Midwives | 696 or 20.34 „ | 854 or 21.06 „ |
| „ Other persons | 35 or 1.02 „ | 27 or .66 „ |
| „ Hospitals, etc. | 1,904 or 55.68 „ | 1,970 or 48.58 „ |
Of the total births notified, 68 referred to still-births (46 males and 22
females); 1,710 took place at Queen Charlotte's Hospital; 362 at the Middlesex
Hospital and 2,052 were born at home. Of those notified as having occurred in
St. Marylebone, 1,668 belonged to other Boroughs.
DEATHS AND DEATH RATES.
Deaths to the number of 1,607 were registered during the year. This figure
is inclusive of persons who, though usually resident in the Borough, died in
institutions, etc., outside, but exclusive of persons who, though they died in
St. Marylebone, were ordinarily resident in other districts. The death rate
calculated with this figure and the estimated population to the middle of 1910
and corrected for age and sex distribution by multiplying by the RegistrarGeneral's
factor 10652, works out at 13.3 per 1,000.
As was explained in the report for 1909, the necessity for this "correction"
results from the fact that differences in death rates in various areas are not
entirely dependent upon the sanitary conditions existing in these areas, but also
on the constitution (age and sex) of the population. A population consisting of