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Births and Birth Rate. (Figures for 1955 are given in brackets.)
The total number of registered births in the district (as notified under the Births and
Deaths Registration Act) was 135 (112). The total number of live births belonging to the
district, whether occurring within or outside the district, was 713 (698). The illegitimate
live births were 38 (21). There were 9 stillbirths (12) all of these being legitimate.

To make an approximate allowance for the way in which the sex and age distribution
of the local population differs from that for England and Wales as a whole, the birth rate is
multiplied by a comparability factor supplied by the Registrar-General. The comparability
factor for 1956 happened to be one, so that the corrected live birth rate remained at 13.57
which was the crude birth rate and compares with a corresponding rate for the whole of
England and Wales, which was 15.7.
Infant Mortality
Infant mortality, i.e. the number of children dying before reaching the age of one year
increased by one in 1956. Thirteen infants died, as compared with 12 during 1955, giving
an infant mortality rate of 18.23 Per 1,000 live births, as against 17.19 in 1955. Of these 13
deaths, 1 died at home and 12 in hospital. Ten infants (5 male and 5 female) died within
the first four weeks after birth. Table V gives the causes of infant deaths under the age of
one year. Graph A, on infant mortality rates, shows the trend of the infant mortality rate
since 1900. The infant mortality rate for Middlesex County was 19.1 and the infant mortality
rate for England and Wales as a whole was 23.8, the lowest ever recorded in this country.
It will be seen that Southall's figure is lower than the national one, and also lower than the
average for Middlesex.
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