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BIRTHS.
During the year 1953, 750 births were registered as occurring
in the District, of which 368 were male and 382 were female,
compared with 751 in 1952. It will be seen by reference to the
above table that this is equal to an annual birth rate of 11.6 per
1,000 population, as compared with 11.7, 12.2, 11.7, 13.0, 14.6
and 17.0 in the previous six years. The rate of 17.6 in 1946 was
the highest birth rate experienced in this District, but that of
1953 was slightly below the lowest pre-war average rate.
If this rate is corrected for the atypical constitution of the
population it becomes 12.5 and this can be compared with the
birth rates for England and Wales which were 15.5 in 1953 and
15.3, 15.5, 15.8, 16.7, 17.9, and 20.5 in the preceding six years.
Illegitimacy.- In 1953, of the births registered, 21 were
illegitimate (13 males and 8 females), this being 7 more than in
the preceding year. The percentage of illegitimate births was
thus the same as the lowest pre-war average.
Stillbirths— The number of stillbirths registered during
1953 was 14 (10 males and 4 females), which is 5 more than last
year. One of the stillbirths occurred in respect of an illegitimate
child. The local stillbirth rate was 0.22 per thousand of population
while that for England and Wales was 0.35 in 1953.
DEATHS.
The number of deaths registered during 1953 as belonging to
this District was 990 (451 males and 539 females), which would
appear to be 334 more than last year. This astonishing difference
is due to a new system whereby the Register General now
attributes to this District all the deaths occurring in the two large
mental hospitals, it being suggested that as the majority of the
inpatients in these hospitals are long stay cases, they should be
regarded as forming part of the normal population. Numerically,
of course, they are included in the population, but, their death
rate being inevitably higher than the average, the effect on the
local death rate is most misleading. Even the application of the
"comparability factor" supplied by the Registrar General, which
reduces the gross local death rate of 15.3 to a 'corrected' one of
13.3 gives an unfair comparison with the national death rate of
11.4 for 1953.
From the point of view of continuity of the local records it
would have appeared much sounder to have transferred the deaths
of non-residents dying in these hospitals to their respective districts,
as was previously the practice, and to have reduced the local
population by the number of those hospital beds normally occupied
by non-residents.
In order to be able to compare more accurately the 1953
death rates, the records in respect of the normal residents have
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