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9
Births
The number of births registered in the Borough during
the year was 7,834 (4,021 males and 3,813 females) but of this
total 902 were children of non-residents who came to be
confined in one or other of the maternity hospitals or
were visiting friends, while 145 West Ham women were
confined outside the Borough. Suitable adjustment makes the
net West Ham Births 7,017 (3,599 males and 3,418 females);
109 of these (94 males and 75 females) were illegitimate.
Calculated on the Registrar General's estimate of the
population of the Borough at the middle of 1925, viz., 318,500,
the birth rate for the year was 22.03, being the lowest ever
recorded for the Borough. 7,520 live births and 196 still births
were notified within 36 hours of birth in accordance with the
notification of Births Act 1907.
Deaths.
The number of deaths registered during the year was
2,334, but of these 174 occurred in persons not belonging to
the Borough, while the deaths of 1,268 residents of West Ham
occurred in various institutions and districts elsewhere, making
the total net deaths attributable to the Borough number 3,428.
of which 1,799 were males and 1,629 females.
The distribution of these deaths to their various causes will
be found later in this report, but the grand total of 3,428 from
all causes gives an annual death-rate of 10.7 per 1,000 of the
estimated population. It may be of interest to compare the
annual death-rate for England and Wales, which was 12.2 per
1.000 of the total population, and that for the 105 County
Boroughs and Great Towns, including London, which was 12.2.
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 Whipps Cross
Hospital and the 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 (Queen
Mary's Hospital for the East End, St. Mary's Hospital,
Plaistow Maternity Charity, Children's Hospital (Balaam
Street), Royal Albert Dock Hospital and Forest Gate Sick