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27
Notifications.—The total number of notifications received during the year
under the Notification of Births Act, 1007, was .'5,'277; live births, 3,094 ; still
births, 183. The total notifications in 1932 was 3,332. The provisions of the Act
are now very generally known, and the necessity for notifying is not less well
recognised than that for registration. Failures 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. In some cases
duplicate notifications, from different sources, were received with regard to the
same birth.
No. Per cent.
From parents ... ... 10 0.3
„ doctors ... ... 102 3-8
„ mid wives ... ... 280 8*6
„ other persons ... 57 1*4
„ hospitals, etc. ... 2,828 86'4
3,277 100"0
Of the total births notified, 183 referred to still-births (111 males and 72
females); 2,05)4 took place at Queen Charlotte's Hospital; 90 at Middlesex Hospital
; 99 at the St. Marylebone Home; and 449 were born at home. Of those
notified as having occurred in St. Marylebone 2,317 belong to other Boroughs.
Of the 183 still-births 36 (19 males and 17 females) were to St. Marylebone mothers.
DEATHS AND DEATH RATES.
The number of deaths registered in 1933 was 1,224. 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 12.2.
In the previous year, the rate was 12.4 and the number of deaths 1,265.

•By a " corrected death rate " is meant 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 o
St. Marylebone in 1933 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.