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
Carshalton 1952
[Report of the Medical Officer of Health for Carshalton]
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BIRTHS
The number of live births registered during 1952 was 783, which is
25 more than in the year before. Of these, 400 were males and 383
females, giving a birth rate of 12.7 per thousand population.
The "comparable" birth rate produced by the application of the
Registrar-General's comparability factor of 0.94 to allow for the disparity
in the age and sex constitution of the local population and that of the
country as a whole is 11.9 per thousand population, which compares
with 15.3 for England and Wales.
Information is not available as to the home address of births
registered to Carshalton residents occurring outside the district. For
computation of ward birth rates, therefore, use is made of the notifications
of births received under the Public Health Act, supplemented by the
Registrar's weekly returns of registrations within the district. From these
sources it is known that 814 births and 16 stillbirths occurred in 1952.
They were distributed as shown in the following table.
| Ward. | Live Births. | Birth Rate per 1,000 Population. | Stillbirths. | Stillbirth Rate per 1,000 total births. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| St. Helier South | 79 | 11.4 | 1 | 12.6 |
| St. Helier West | 136 | 16.6 | 3 | 22.0 |
| North-East | 151 | 16.7 | 4 | 25.3 |
| North-West | 79 | 110 | — | — |
| Central | 76 | 12.5 | 1 | 13.1 |
| South-East (excluding Queen Mary's Hospital) | 98 | 12.6 | 3 | 30.6 |
| South-West | 65 | 9.8 | — | — |
Seventy-five per cent. of all births occurred in hospitals and
nursing homes. The percentages of such births for the individual wards
were as follows:
St. Helier North 68
St. Helier South 81
St. Helier West 77
North-East 71
North-West 80
Central 75
South-East 70
South-West 84
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