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2
H (1).
Public Health Department,
Council Offices,
Erith.
To The Mayor, Aldermpn and Councillors
of the Borough of Erith.
Mr. Mayor, Ladies and Gentlemen,
This report is again curtailed as in the previous three •
years for purposes of national economy and consists, therefore,
mainly of statistics.
The fall in the birth rate has for a generation or more,
now ceased to be merely an interesting occurrence in statistics
and has become a matter of vital importance in the life of the
nation.
About the physiology and pathology of human reproduction
at the moment we know, in fact, very little, but as
reproduction is dominated by emotion far more than any other
physiological function, it is reasonable to expect an increase
in the birth rate at the present time. That this is so is
illustrated by the fact that the births in the district have this
year increased by roughly a third as compared with those in
the preceding year, and it has again been necessary to increase
the accommodation at the municipal maternity home in this
instance to 12 beds. This is exactly double the capacity of
the home in 1940 and it is no secret that plans and estimates
are in hand to further increase the number of beds. The total
number of births during this year exceeds those in any other
year since 1920. >
The death rate of 11.1 shows a reduction on the previous
year's figure, and is below the standardised rate for the rest
of the country (England and Wales). The maternal mortality
rate of 2.6 is, unfortunately, higher than in the previous year,
and at this figure exactly equals the average material mortality
rate of the town during the last twenty-two years.