[Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Cheltenham Borough.

  • Cheltenham (England). Borough Council.
Date:
1947
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

Credit: [Report 1947] / Medical Officer of Health, Cheltenham Borough. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    8/51 (page 6)
    Births. llie total numljcr of l^irths in tlic J^orougli during 1947 was 2,458. This ligLire includes 74 still births. Tnc nuinber of births ascribed to ])erinanent residents was 1,347, including 34 still births. This gives a birth rate of 21.2 per 1,(J00 live births compared with 19.7, 19.0, 20.4, 18.6 and 17.6 for the previous five years. It was the highest rate since 1922 when the rate was 21.8. Illegitimate Births. The total number of illegitimate births was 99, giving a rate of 73 per 1,000 total births. This figure com])ares with rates of 114, 155, 122, 95 and 83 for the previous hve years. Rates prior to the war were 50-60. Death Rate. Deaths during 1947 numbered 926 giving a mortality rate for 1,000 population of 14.98, compared with 14.6 for the previous year. The rate for England and Wales was 12. The Cheltenham figure naturally requires correction to allow for the comparatively elderly nature of a section of the population. The registrar, however, is unable to give an up-to-date correction figure and he will not be able to do so until he has the information provided by another Census. Infant Mortality. Fifty-six infants under one year of age died during 1947. This gives an Infant Mortality rate of 42 compared with a rate of 47 for large towns and 41 for the country as a whole. Maternal Mortality. Deaths of Mothers associated with child birth were two. This gives a slightly higher rate than for the whole country. WATER SUPPLY. The purity of the water supplied by Cheltenham and the Cheltenham and Gloucester Joint Water Board was maintained during 1947. An adequate supply was made available in all areas covered by water mains. Isolated houses and a few small groups of houses on the western outskirts of the Borough are still outside the supply area and in some cases during the dry weather of 1947 wells dried up and the houses de- pending on them were without adequate supply for a time. In one case the well in question was filled at intervals by the lire service. In this case an extension of the town main to the house is nearing completion. The Cheltenham Water Undertaking covers a wide area outside the Borough boundary in addition to the Urban District of Charlton Kings. Schemes for extension of the mains will provide supplies to Lcck- hampton Hill and Birdlip and mi area west of the Severn lying between Haw Bridge and Tewkesbury. These have already been approved by the Ministry. Schemes to cover Little Shurdington, Deerhurst, Walton and Twynning are awaiting approval.