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69
MATERNITY AND CHILD WELFARE.
Notification of Births.
Confusion sometimes exists between notification
and registration of births. The figures below refer,
unless otherwise specified, to notifications received
under the Notification of Births (Extension) Act, 1915,
which requires that all births should be notified to the
Medical Officer of Health of the district concerned,
within 36 hours of their occurrence. This duty is in
addition to and not in substitution of registration of
births, which must be made within six weeks of birth.
1,776 notifications of live births were received
during the year.
252 notifications (including stillbirths) were received
from medical practitioners and parents, and 1,571 from
midwives.
Information was received of 384 births outside this
area. The following list shows where most of these
occurred:—East End Maternity Hospital 201, Oldchurch
Hospital 80, Charing Cross Hospital 27, Plaistow
Maternity Hospital 24, Queen Mary's Hospital, Stratford
14.
Illegitimate births accounted for only 2.3 per cent.
of the total births.
Stillbirths.
29 male and 18 female stillbirths were notified, the
corresponding figures for registration being 33 and 22.
The rate per 1,000 of total population registered was
0.548, the rate for England and Wales being 0.62. The
percentage of illegitimate stillbirths to the total was
1.S5 compared with a percentage of illegitimate to total
births of 2.3.