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Births.
The number of births registered in the Borough during the
year was 6,722 (3,435 males and 3,287 females), but of this total
017 were children of non-residents, who came to be confined in
one or other of the maternity hospitals, or were visiting friends,
while 186 West Ham women were confined outside the Borough.
Suitable adjustment makes the net West Ham Births 5,991 (3,068
males and 2,923 females); 158 of these (75 males and 83 females)
were illegitimate.
Calculated on the Registrar General's estimate of the
population of the Borough at the middle of 1927, viz., 315,400
the birth rate for the year was 18.9, being the lowest ever recorded
for the Borough. 6,297 live births and 219 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 2,258,
but of these 174 occurred in persons not belonging to the Borough,
while the deaths of 1,397 residents of West Ham occurred in
various institutions and districts elsewhere, making the total net
deaths attributable to the Borough number 3,481, of which 1,805
were males and 1,676 females.
The distribution of these deaths to their various causes will
be found later in this report, but the grand total of from all causes
gives an annual death rate of 11.0 per 1,000 of the estimated
population. It may be of interest to compare the annual death
rate for England and Wales, which was 12.3 per 1,000 of the total
population, and that for the 107 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. 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, the
Children's Hospital (Balaam Street), Royal Albert Dock Hospital
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