[Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Malvern U.D.C.

  • Malvern (England). Urban District Council.
Date:
1906
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1906] / Medical Officer of Health, Malvern U.D.C. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    9/24 (page 9)
    “ Apart from deliberate restriction of child-bearing, and from am changes that have taken place in the physical, social, and economic conditions of the people, the principal factors that have an influence on me birth rate are :— 1. Variation in the proportion of women of conceptive ages in the population. 2. Variations in the marriage rate. 3. Variations in the age constitution of married women of conceptive ages. “ Although a general decline in fertility has been in progress throughout the whole country, the amount of the decrease varies con¬ siderably in the several counties. On comparing the rates at the last census with those prevailing thirty years earlier (these periods are used to avoid errors due to estimates of population in intercensal years) it will be found that the decline was least in the mining counties and greatest in agricultural counties.’- Table I. shows that the total number of deaths registered in your district in 1906 was 196. and that the death rate upon this basis amounts to 11.2 per 1,000 of the population. On the other hand, the “ nett death rate ” arrived at by excluding “ deaths of non-residents registered in Public Institutions in the district and including “ deaths of residents registered in Public Institutions beyond the district who belonged to Malvern, equals 11.6. Last year (Table I.) there were 13 deaths of residents registered in Public Institutions beyond the district, who belonged to Malvern, viz. : Upton-on-Severn Workhouse ... ... ... ... 10 Powick Asylum ... ... ... ... ... ... 1 Worcester Infirmarv ... ... ... ... ... 2 If, however, the 16 deaths of “ visitors which took place in Malvern are excluded (as they certainly ought to be), then the “ cor¬ rected death rate ” is 10.7 per 1,000 of the population. The death rate in England and Wales in 1906 was 15.4 per 1,000, which is 0.2 per 1,000 above the rate in 1905 : compared with the average rate in the ten years 1896-1905. the death rate in 1906 shows a decrease of 1.4 per 1,000. The £< nett death rate ” includes three deaths from whooping cough and one from typhoid fever. The “ infantile mortalitv of Malvern last \ ear was 102, the standard of a “ healthv district being about 100. The Registrar General, quoting Dr. Tatham (Supt. of Statistics, General Registry Office), in his 68th Annual Report, says — <£ It has frequently been pointed out in these reports that although the general mortalitv in this country has steadily fallen in the course of the last half-centurv, nevertheless infants in the first vear of life have not shared in the benefit. c< Atmospheric and seasonal conditions cause frequent and at times great fluctuations in the rate of death among young children, but if