Shortened Birth Certificates 67. Mrs. Jeger asked the Minister of Health the number of shortened birth certificates issued each year since the inception of the scheme; and the proportion each year of the total number of births. Mr. Iain Macleod The number of short birth certificates sold in 1948, i.e. the first complete year since their introduction, is estimated as about 694,000. The figures for succeeding years up to 1953 are 781,000, 815,000, 914,000, 956,000 and 919,000. The numbers of births registered in each of these six years were: ------------ |1948|…|…|…| ------------ |1949|…|…|…| ------------ |1950|…|…|…| ------------ |1951|…|…|…| ------------ |1952|…|…|…| ------------ |1953|…|…|…| ------------