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DEATHS AND DEATH RATE
Whole District
Total deaths, 488. (Males, 262 ; Females, 226.)
Crude Death Rate, 8.67.
For extracts from vital statistics and causes of death, see Appendix, Tables II and III.
Deaths.
The death rate, which fell in 1946, showed another decrease in 1947 to 8 67 as against
8.96 in 1946. The highest numbers of deaths were again caused by heart disease and
cancer, as in the two previous years.
The total number of deaths registered of persons belonging to the district and dying
within the district at all ages and from all causes was 240 (males 132 and females 108).
For statistical purposes it is necessary to add to this figure the deaths of persons ordinarily
resident in the district, who died in various London Hospitals, the Hillingdon County
Hospital, other Middlesex County Hospitals and elsewhere outside the district. These
"outside" deaths were 248 in number (males 130 and females 118). The total number
of deaths therefore belonging to the district was 488.
The deaths of non-Southall residents in the St. Bernard's Hospital (not included in
the above figures) numbered 146 (males 62 and females 84).
For the distribution of deaths in the various Wards see Appendix, Table IV, and
for the comparison of general birth and death rates and rates of maternal mortality, see
Appendix, Table V.
Births and Birth Rate (figures for 1946 are given in brackets).
The total number of births notified to the Health Department under the Public Health
Act, 1936, was 1,244 (1,229). The total number of registered births in the district (under
the Births and Deaths Registration Act—included in the notified births above) was
471 (408). The total number of live births belonging to the district whether occurring
within or outside the district was 1,108 (1,090). The illegitimate live births were 53 (56).
There were 22 stillbirths (27), and these were legitimate, with two exceptions.
There was very little alteration in the birth rate in 1947 when it was 20.16 as compared
with 20.51 in 1946. The corresponding rate for the whole country was 20.5 so that the
birth rate for Southall was very slightly lower than the rate for England and Wales.

Infant Mortality.
The total number of deaths under one year of age was 43. The rate per 1,000 live
births was 38.8. The corresponding rate for England and Wales was 41, for London 37,
and for the 148 small towns 36 per 1,000.
The rate of 38.8 is only fairly satisfactory. There was an increase in the number of
infant deaths in 1947, for the first time since 1938. The increase was from 33.9 in 1946,
to 38.8 in 1947. It is agreed by most authorities that a rate of 25 infant deaths in 1,000
live births should be obtainable, and, as scientific knowledge progresses, it is hoped that
this figure, to which we may aspire now, can be lowered still further. Certain causes of
infant deaths, such as congenital malformations, are not sufficiently understood for them
to be considered preventable at the present time, but deaths from prematurity, of which
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