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Mary went on to say John had attended a lecture, where a man had very
stoutly declared that all the improvements in the health of the public were entirely
due to the improved social conditions which had been brought about in the last
century and had nothing to do with the development of the medical services.
The Health of Barking
As a matter of fact it often occurs that directly one gets interested in
one thing it is amazing the number
of people we find who have similar
interests ; whether you are a mere
schoolboy playing marbles or if
you are an older man playing a
special modification of marbles
called golf.
For the year 1948 the birth-rate in Barking was not particularly high when
compared with the birth-rate for the rest of the country. Although the birth-rate
in Barking was higher than that for England and Wales as a whole it was certainly
less than the average for the 126 County Boroughs and Great Towns, of which
Barking is one, and was even less than that for the 148 smaller towns to be found
in England—it was decidedly less than the birth-rate for the Administrative County
of London.

Immunisation.
When Mary Ann was a month old and Mary brought her to the clinic, one of the
first tilings Mary said when she went in to see the doctor was " I am not going to
have Vary Ann immunised; my husband does not believe in it."
1 octors at clinics are wise to such things, and when a woman says, " My husband
does not believe in it,'" it really means that mother does not intend to have it done,
and o course any self-respecting husband, for the sake of peace and quietness,
believes and disbelieves on such matters as he is told.
BIRTH RATES—1948.
England and Wales
17.9
126 County Boroughs and Great
Towns, including London
20.0
148 Smaller Towns
19.2
London Administrative County
BIRTH RATES IN BARKING,
1944-1948.
1944 ...
20.08
1945 ...
17.85
1946 ...
20.6
1947 ...
23.8
1948 ...
18.5
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