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22
BIRTHS.
The number of births registered by the Edmonton Registrar, Mr.
Judd, was 1,844 (952 boys and 892 girls), which includes 23 births that
took place in the Edmonton Workhouse, born of mothers belonging to
Edmonton. The figures for 1911, 1910, and 1909 were:—1,921, 1,961,
and 1,871. One birth which occurred at the Strand Workhouse, and
83 which occurred at Edmonton Workhouse, born of mothers who are
not Edmonton residents, are excluded from our statistics, just as foreign
deaths are. The Registrar-General reported 5 births (3 males and 2
females) which had taken place when Edmonton mothers were residing
temporarily out of their district; all of these infants were stated to
be born in wedlock. Thus the nett total of births was 1,765. Of these
births 40 (or 2.27 per cent.) were illegitimate. The birth rate per
thousand inhabitants is therefore 27.12, compared with 29.25 last year.
Still Births. The Council of the Obstetrical Society of
the Royal Society of Medicine has issued the following definition :—
"A stillborn child means a child which measures more than thirteen (13)
inches in length from the top of the head to the heel, and which, when
completely extruded from the body of the mother (head, body, and limbs,
but not necessarily the afterbirth), exhibits no sign of life by crying, or
breathing, or by pulsation in the cord at its attachment to the body of
the child, or by beating of the heart."
Notification of Births' Act, 1907. This came into force
here on April 28th, 1908. During this year 1,897 births were entered
in our register; of these 975 were males and 918 females; in 4 cases
the sex was not declared; 99 (or 5.22 per cent.) of the whole number
were born out of wedlock, and 7 more were of doubtful legitimacy. Sixtyfive
children were declared "still-born." It will be interesting to note
the future effect of this Act on, the number of "still-born" burials at our
Cemetery. Mr. Clement Bugg, Superintendent there, informs me that
there were 69 children styled "still-born" buried during 1912, and
for 1911-10-9 the figures were 83, 80, 70. For work done in visiting
infants and their mothers, see section, "The Woman Inspector and
her Work." In a previous paragraph it is noted that 1,844 births were
registered during 1912. The figures of notification and registration will,
of course, never coincide, but they show that few, if any, births escape
notification in accordance with the Act. Twenty-four pairs of twins
arrived, but no triplets.
The birth-rate (27.12) for 1912 is 2.13 lower than last year, and
is the lowest on record for Edmonton, but it is much higher than 23.8,
the birth-rate of England and Wales for 1912. The birth-rate for the
preceding six years will be found in Column 5 of Table I.