London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
View report page
Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Shoreditch 1936
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Shoreditch]
This page requires JavaScript
The distribution of the corrected births and the birth rates in the eight wards of the Borough are given below:—
| Ward. | Males. | Females. | Total. | Births per 1,000 population. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Moorfields | 17 | 25 | 42 | 12.1 |
| Church | 133 | 120 | 253 | 17.5 |
| Hoxton | 92 | 106 | 198 | 14.2 |
| Wenlock | 121 | 85 | 206 | 14.9 |
| Whitmore | 111 | 88 | 199 | 15.1 |
| Kingsland | 58 | 64 | 122 | 14.5 |
| Haggerston | 61 | 80 | 141 | 16.2 |
| Acton | 55 | 58 | 113 | 12.0 |
| Totals | 648 | 626 | 1,274 | 14.9 |
Still Births.
The numbers of still births registered in the Borough during the calendar year 1936 are given in the following table:-
| Total (legitimate and illegitimate). | Still births registered. | Inward transfers. | Outward transfers. | Still births allocated to the Borough. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Males | 21 | 4 | 1 | 24 |
| Females | 18 | 4 | 4 | 18 |
| Totals | 39 | 8 | 5 | 42 |
| Illegitimate. | ||||
| Males | 1 | — | — | 1 |
| Females | 1 | — | 1 | - |
The birth rate for the Borough as a whole was 14.9. For England and Wales
the birth rate was 14.8 and for London 13.6. The illegitimate births numbered 43,
of which 20 were males and 23 females. Of these, 25, of which 13 were males, occurred
in St. Leonard's Hospital. The illegitimate births therefore represented 3.4 per cent.
of all the births in the Borough during the year.
The number of births which occurred in St. Leonard's Hospital was 539:
263 males and 276 females. In 137 of these the parents were not Shoreditch residents.
The table on page 24 gives details of the birth rates for Shoreditch, London, and
for England and Wales since 1893.
The birth rate for 1935 was the lowest recorded for the Borough, and it is satisfactory
to note that the rate for 1936 shows a slight increase. The birth rates for
different wards showed rather more than the usual variation. The rate for Church
Ward showed a marked increase over the corresponding rate for 1935.
The slight rise in the birth rate is possibly associated with the corresponding
slight rise in the rate for the country as a whole. Last year the Shoreditch birth rate
was slightly higher than that for London, but below that for England and Wales, and
it is satisfactory to note that the Shoreditch rate for 1936 is once again higher than the
rate for the country as a whole. Nevertheless, the difference is not sufficiently great
to warrant an attitude of optimism. In 1934 the birth rate for Shoreditch was the
highest of the rates for the Metropolitan Boroughs; in 1935 four London Boroughs