London's Pulse: Medical Officer of Health reports 1848-1972
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Hints from the Health Department. Leaflet from the archive of the Society of Medical Officers of Health. Credit: Wellcome Collection, London
Mitcham 1956
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Mitcham]
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8
There was always a big demand for the highly skilled, such as
engineers and for heavy manual workers who were seldom unemployed
except in periods of change of posts.
Another group always in demand was young women alert and
quick of eye.
Although Mitcham is chiefly a working class area, there are few
houses that can be called slums and no back-to-back houses. Nearly
two-thirds of the houses have been built since 1921 and more than
50 per cent. of all roads are tree-lined. Mitcham is now a fairly densely
populated area, with the few available building sites being rapidly
filled up.
STATISTICS
| Live Births. | Total | Male | Female | Rate per 1,000 of population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Legitimate | 840 | 428 | 412 | |
| Illegitimate | 34 | 19 | 15 | |
| Total | 874 | 447 | 427 | 13.45 |
| After correction by the comparability factor becomes | 12.91 | |||
| Still Births. | Total | Male | Female | Rate per 1,000 total births |
| Legitimate | 14 | 7 | 7 | |
| Illegitimate | — | — | — | |
| Total | 14 | 7 | 7 | 15.77 |
| Deaths. | Total | Male | Female | Rate per 1,000 of population |
| 612 | 332 | 280 | 9.42 | |
| After correction by the comparability factor becomes | 11.49 | |||
| Deaths from pregnancy, childbirth and abortion:— | ||||
| Rate per 1,000 total births | ||||
| Number of cases | Nil | — | ||
| Deaths of infants under one year of age:— | ||||
| All infants per 1,000 live births | 13.73 | |||
| Legitimate infants per 1,000 live legitimate births | 13.10 | |||
| Illegitimate infants per 1,000 live illegitimate births | 29.41 | |||