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13
During 1965, 6,930 births were notified. The figure includes babies born
in Hackney to mothers resident outside the Borough but excludes babies born
elsewhere whose mothers normally reside in Hackney.
After the necessary adjustments had been made the Registrar General calculated
that 5,850 babies were born to mothers normally resident in Hackney, giving
a crude live birth rate of 23.1 per 1000. Because in some boroughs there are more
women of child bearing age than in others, the proportion of these women to the total
population is higher than the national average and the birth rate appears to be
inflated. The Registrar General has, therefore, calculated for each borough an
area comparability factor based on a hypothetical standard population. For
Hackney this figure is 0.9 and in consequence the adjusted birth rate was 20.7
per 1,000 which compares with 18.0 for the whole of England and Wales.
The percentage of illegitimate live births was 16.0% of the total live
births. This figure compares with 15.5% for the previous year. The average for
England and Wales is 7.7% and for the inner London Boroughs 14.4%. This figure
may partly be accounted for by women moving into the large conurbation of London.
DEATHS
The commonest single cause of death was coronary heart disease, followed
by other heart and circulatory disease. Other important causes of death
include vascular lesions of the central nervous system and malignant disease.
The latter accounted for a large number of deaths (593) and lung cancer is high
amongst these showing also the now accepted fact that there are vastly more
men than women dying from this cause. Bronchitis still accounts for a large
number of deaths and still presents a formidable challenge to preventive