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34
Births.
By the Public Health Act, 1936, all live births and stillbirths of seven
months and over must be notified to the Medical Officer of Health within
36 hours.
The number of live births notified under the above Act during 1940 was
1,555 (802 males and 753 females).
Of these, 57 (28 males and 29 females) took place in Ilford, the ordinary
place of residence of the parents being outside the district.
In addition, 314 notifications of birth (153 males and 161 females) which
took place outside the district, although the ordinary residence of the parents
is in Ilford, were transferred to this district.
During the year, 18 cases in which there was default in complying
with the requirements of the Act relating to the Notification of Births were
referred to the Town Clerk.
The percentage of live births occurring in Ilford, notified by the various
responsible persons, was ias follows:—
By Medical Practitioners 7.59
By Certified Midwives 88.81
By Parents and Others 3.60
In addition, 69 stillbirths (33 males and 36 females) were notified. In
2 cases (1 male and 1 female) the parents resided outside the district.
The notifications of 7 stillbirths (6 males and 1 female) which took place
outside the district, although the ordinary residence of the parents is in Ilford,
were transferred to this district.
Infant Mortality.
The number of infants dying within the first year of life was 63, the total
number born being 1,922. The latter figure is supplied by the RegistrarGeneral
for calculating infant and maternal mortality rates. The infant
mortality, or rate of deaths per 1,000 live births, was, therefore, 32.8.
Neonatal Mortality.
The death-rate of infants under four weeks of age is known as the
Neonatal Mortality.
There were 43 deaths of infants under four weeks of age during 1940 and
the rate for the year was 22.3 per 1,000 live births.
The deaths of infants under one month decreased from 57 during 1939 to
43 during 1940.
The following table gives the deaths of infants under one year of age,
classified according to age. It will be noticed that prematurity still causes
the greatest number of deaths.