[Report 1960] / Medical Officer of Health, Northampton County Borough.

Vin.—MATERNAL AND CHILD CARE Registration of Births. 1,686 live births were registered, the birth-rate being 16*7, compared with 17-1 for England and Wales. Table 16. Northampton C.B., 1960. Live Births and Stillbirths Registered and Notified. Births and Deaths Registration Act, 1953. Public Health Act, 1936: Section 203. MALES FEMALES TOTALS Live Births Registered ..... 874 812 1686 Stillbirths Registered .... 19 21 40 *Total Births Registered ....... 893 833 1726 Live Births Notified ..... 1671 1546 3217 Stillbirths Notified ...... 46 43 89 jTotal Births Notified .... 1717 1589 3306 * 1,318 (76*4 per cent.) of the total registered births occurred in institutions, f 2,898 (87*7 per cent.) of the total notified births occurred in institutions. Notification of Births. It is a statutory requirement under Section 203 of the Public Health Act, 1936, for births to be notified within thirty-six hours to the Medical Officer of Health by any person in attendance upon the mother at the time of, or within six hours after, the birth. This, of course, is in addition to registration. 3,217 live births were notified. Stillbirths. A “ stillborn child ” is a child which has issued forth from its mother after the twenty-eighth week of pregnancy and which did not at any time after being completely expelled from its mother breathe or shew any sign of life. 40 stillbirths were registered, giving a rate of 0 40 per thousand of the population. The rate expressed per thousand total births (including stillbirths) registered was 23-2, compared with 19-7 for England and Wales. 89 stillbirths were notified, 49 relating to mothers from surrounding areas. The remaining 40 stillbirths were investigated. 14 of these oc¬ curred in primigravida. In 26 cases labour was premature. Infant Mortality. There were 34 deaths under one year of age, the infant mortality being 20-2 per thousand live births registered. The corres¬ ponding figure for England and Wales was 21-7, the lowest ever recorded in this country. Table 17 gives the infant mortality for England and Wales and Northampton for the last ten years for comparison. The infant deaths are classified by cause in Table 18,