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28
STATISTICAL.
BIRTHS.
Registration.—The number of births registered during 1926 was 1,359,*
being 172 less than in 1925. Of the children born, 685 were boys and 674 girls.
The birth rate per 1,000 of the population was 12.77, as against 14.1 in 1925.
The rates in the several registration sub-districts and the borough were:—
All Souls, 9.0; St. Mary, 10.1; Christ Church, 18.0; St. John, 12.6.
Notifications.—The total number of notifications received during the year
under the Notification of Births Act, 1907, was 3,448; Live births, 3,282; Still
births, 166. Failure to notify within 36 hours of birth, as required, were comparatively
few. In such cases as there was failure, a perfectly reasonable explanation
was forthcoming, and it was not considered necessary to take proceedings
against any of the parties.
The main sources of the notifications are set out below. The figures, it may
be noted, refer to notifications and not to births.
No. Per cent.
From parents 39 1.1
„ doctors 212 6.1
„ midwives 616 17.9
„ other persons 168 4.9
„ hospitals, etc. 2,418 70.0
3,448
Of the total births notified, 166 referred to still-births (96 males and 70
females) : 1,881 took place at Queen Charlotte's Hospital, 351 at Middlesex Hospital;
56 at St. Marylebone Home; and 1,035 were born at home. Of those
notified as having occurred in St. Marylebone, 1,877 belonged to other Boroughs.
DEATHS AND DEATH RATES.
The number of. deaths registered in 1926 was 1,356. This figure is inclusive
of persons who, though normally resident in the Borough, died in institutions
outside, but exclusive of persons, who, though they died in St. Marylebone, were
ordinarily resident in other parts of England or Wales. Deaths of persons
ordinarily resident outside the borders of England and Wales are included in the
St. Marylebone figures, if they occur in the Borough.
The corrected death-rate† per thousand for the year was 11.93.
In the previous year, the rate was 11.0, and the number of deaths 1,257.
* This figure is exclusive of births occurring in the Borough to persons usually non-resident
therein, but includes 209 births which occurred outside the district, and which have been transferred
as belonging to St. Marylebone:—
Legitimate Males 90
,, Females 74
Illegitimate Males 15
,, Females 30
† Bya " corrected death rate " is meapt one which has been treated in such a way, raised or
lowered in a certain ratio, as to be comparable with the death rates similarly treated of other
districts. That " correction " is necessary is due to 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 aged persons would show more
deaths than one consisting entirely of young and vigorous adults; a population made up of a large
number of males and a small number of females has more deaths and a higher death rate than one
in which the females outnumber the males. The death rates of such populations are not comparable
the one with the other nor with those of populations differently constituted. To overcome this
difficulty the Registrar General issues a "factor for correction " for each district which represents
the number of times which the actual death rate of each must be raised in order to permit of its
examination side by side with the rates of other districts. The " factor for correction " in the case of
St. Marylebone in 1926 is 0.944, and the corrected death rate is obtained by multiplying with this
figure the number of deaths per 1,000, calculated from the total deaths and the population estimated
to the middle of the year.