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A rise in the birth rate (live and still) is recorded from 15.58 in 1960 to 18.86 in 1961.
The birth rate is the number of births per 1,000 of the total population.

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 corrected
live birth rate was 19.18. The corresponding rate for the whole of England and Wales
was 17.4 and this was the highest birth rate since the year 1948.
Infant Mortality
Infant mortality, i.e. the number of children dying before reaching the age of one
year, was greater, the figure for 1961 being the highest since 1953 as can be seen by the
graph on page 10. Twenty-six infants died compared with 14 in 1960, giving a rate of
26.72 compared with 17.14 in 1960. Of these 26 deaths, one died at home and 25 in hospital.
Twenty-three infants (males 12 and females 11) died within the first four weeks
after birth. Table IV gives the causes of infant deaths under the age of one year. Graph A,
on page 10 shows the trend of the infant mortality rate since 1900. The corresponding
rate for Middlesex County was 20.4 and for England and Wales as a whole was 21.4,
the lowest ever recorded in this country. The Southall figure, which has always been
among the lowest in the County and below the National rate, shows a deterioration this
year—although the figures on which the rate is based are small, i.e. 26 infants died compared
with 14 in 1960, still many of these lives need not have been lost since an analysis of the
causes of the infant deaths shows that prematurity was the main cause of death, which with
proper ante-natal care might have been preventable.
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