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2
Births.
The number of births registered in the Borough during the
year was 8,173 (4,229 males and 3,944 females), but of this total
523 were children of non-residents who came to be confined in
one or other of the maternity hospitals or were visiting friends,
while 153 West Ham mothers were confined outside the
Borough. Suitable adjustment makes the net West Ham births
7,803 (4,018 males and 3,785 females); 225 of these (120 male
and 105 female) were illegitimate.
Calculated on the Registrar General's estimate of the
population of the Borough at the middle of 1923, viz., 314,400,
the birth-rate for the year was 24.81. This was the lowest
birth-rate yet published except during the War years 1917 and
1918. 7,609 live births and 235 still births were notified within
36 hours in accordance with the Notification of Births Act.
Deaths.
The numbar of deaths registered during the year was 2,409,
but of these 208 occurred in persons not belonging to the
Borough, while the deaths of 1,130 residents of West Ham
occurred in various institutions and districts elsewhere, making
the total net deaths attributable to the Borough number 3,331,
of which 1,803 were males and 1,528 females.
The distribution of these deaths to their various causes will
be found later in this Report and in the Appendix; but the grand
total of 3,331 from all causes gives an annual death-rate of
10.59 per 1,000 of the estimated population, which is the lowest
death-rate recorded during the past 47 years.
Deaths in Public Institutions.
The increasing use made of the facilities for Institutional
treatment is shown by the subjoined table, which also serves to
some extent as an index of prevailing distress. The larger
Institutions serving the Borough, such as the Whipps Cross
Hospital and Central Home of the Board of Guardians, and the
Borough Mental Hospital, are situate outside the Borough
boundary, while in addition many West Ham residents are
received into the London Hospitals and Institutions elsewhere.
Similarly the Public Institutions within the Borough (Plaistow
Hospital, Queen Mary's Hospital for the East End, St. Mary's