Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0029
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the relationship between maternal and infant mortality. Case histories of major obstetric complications leading directly to the death of both mother and child suggest that the ...
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This chapter examines the relationship between maternal and infant mortality. Case histories of major obstetric complications leading directly to the death of both mother and child suggest that the same factors probably determined the levels of infant and maternal mortality. However, a comparison of secular trends in different countries and regions reveals that there were no close links between maternal and infant mortality rates. It also reveals that the predominant form of infant mortality in the West was post-neonatal mortality in the 19th century and neonatal in the 20th century.Less
This chapter examines the relationship between maternal and infant mortality. Case histories of major obstetric complications leading directly to the death of both mother and child suggest that the same factors probably determined the levels of infant and maternal mortality. However, a comparison of secular trends in different countries and regions reveals that there were no close links between maternal and infant mortality rates. It also reveals that the predominant form of infant mortality in the West was post-neonatal mortality in the 19th century and neonatal in the 20th century.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0023
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the maternal mortality rate in the US. During the period discussed in this chapter, medical care was dominated by the belief in the virtues of competitive free enterprise ...
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This chapter examines the maternal mortality rate in the US. During the period discussed in this chapter, medical care was dominated by the belief in the virtues of competitive free enterprise combined with an intense distrust of government interference. This chapter analyses regional and racial differences in maternal mortality, the role of poverty in maternal mortality, and the secular trends in maternal mortality in various states. It also examines maternal care and mortality in two North American religious groups: the Hutterites of the Western and Great Plains of Canada and the U.S., and the Faith Assembly in Indiana.Less
This chapter examines the maternal mortality rate in the US. During the period discussed in this chapter, medical care was dominated by the belief in the virtues of competitive free enterprise combined with an intense distrust of government interference. This chapter analyses regional and racial differences in maternal mortality, the role of poverty in maternal mortality, and the secular trends in maternal mortality in various states. It also examines maternal care and mortality in two North American religious groups: the Hutterites of the Western and Great Plains of Canada and the U.S., and the Faith Assembly in Indiana.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0015
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the trends, causes, and determinants of maternal mortality in Great Britain from 1850 to the mid-1930s. The most notable feature of this period is the exceptional peak of ...
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This chapter examines the trends, causes, and determinants of maternal mortality in Great Britain from 1850 to the mid-1930s. The most notable feature of this period is the exceptional peak of maternal mortality in 1874 when the maternal mortality rate reached the highest level ever recorded in English national statistics. This was followed by a deep hollow, a second but lower peak of mortality in 1893, and a downward trend until 1910. This chapter also discusses the major causes of mortality, including puerperal sepsis, abortion, and eclampsia, and analyses the regional variation in mortality rate in Scotland, Wales, and England.Less
This chapter examines the trends, causes, and determinants of maternal mortality in Great Britain from 1850 to the mid-1930s. The most notable feature of this period is the exceptional peak of maternal mortality in 1874 when the maternal mortality rate reached the highest level ever recorded in English national statistics. This was followed by a deep hollow, a second but lower peak of mortality in 1893, and a downward trend until 1910. This chapter also discusses the major causes of mortality, including puerperal sepsis, abortion, and eclampsia, and analyses the regional variation in mortality rate in Scotland, Wales, and England.
Milton Kotelchuck
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195150698
- eISBN:
- 9780199865185
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195150698.003.06
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
The decline of infant and maternal mortality represents one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. From 1900 through 2000, infant mortality in the United States declined ...
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The decline of infant and maternal mortality represents one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. From 1900 through 2000, infant mortality in the United States declined dramatically from estimated 10,000–15,000 deaths to 690 deaths per 100,000 births; similarly, maternal mortality declined from an estimated 600–900 deaths to under ten deaths per 100,000 births. Reductions in both morbidity and mortality have improved the lives of parents and children and have altered expectations for women. Public health actions to improve sanitation, maternal hygiene, nutrition, and prenatal care played a central role in the transformation of reproductive health in the 20th century. This chapter describes decade by decade the evolving concepts and debates about the causes of infant and maternal mortality, the initiatives to ameliorate them, the institutionalization of the major public health advances, and the resulting epidemiologic transformations in the United States.Less
The decline of infant and maternal mortality represents one of the greatest public health achievements of the 20th century. From 1900 through 2000, infant mortality in the United States declined dramatically from estimated 10,000–15,000 deaths to 690 deaths per 100,000 births; similarly, maternal mortality declined from an estimated 600–900 deaths to under ten deaths per 100,000 births. Reductions in both morbidity and mortality have improved the lives of parents and children and have altered expectations for women. Public health actions to improve sanitation, maternal hygiene, nutrition, and prenatal care played a central role in the transformation of reproductive health in the 20th century. This chapter describes decade by decade the evolving concepts and debates about the causes of infant and maternal mortality, the initiatives to ameliorate them, the institutionalization of the major public health advances, and the resulting epidemiologic transformations in the United States.
Eugene A. Hammel and Aaron Gullickson
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- July 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780199280681
- eISBN:
- 9780191602467
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0199280681.003.0012
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
This study of maternal mortality on the Croatian-Bosnian border in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows that the chance of death in childbirth was sensitive to major changes in the social ...
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This study of maternal mortality on the Croatian-Bosnian border in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows that the chance of death in childbirth was sensitive to major changes in the social and economic system. Death was more likely when men were called to military duty, in military rather than civil parishes even in peacetime, and over time as wage labour increased and as economies of scale were lost as the joint household system decayed. The unifying factor in all of these influences is the withdrawal of male labour from family farming, placing greater burdens on pregnant and parturient women and on those other women who might nurture them.Less
This study of maternal mortality on the Croatian-Bosnian border in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries shows that the chance of death in childbirth was sensitive to major changes in the social and economic system. Death was more likely when men were called to military duty, in military rather than civil parishes even in peacetime, and over time as wage labour increased and as economies of scale were lost as the joint household system decayed. The unifying factor in all of these influences is the withdrawal of male labour from family farming, placing greater burdens on pregnant and parturient women and on those other women who might nurture them.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0027
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the levels and trends in maternal care and mortality in certain European countries. It suggests that maternal mortality rates in certain European countries, particularly in ...
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This chapter examines the levels and trends in maternal care and mortality in certain European countries. It suggests that maternal mortality rates in certain European countries, particularly in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark, were lower than those in Great Britain and the US because they had developed very different systems of maternal care with respect to the training and regulation of midwives and the development of obstetrics both as a branch of general practice and as a speciality. This chapter also examines the influence of genetic, socio-economic and cultural differences on the differences between European maternal mortality and that in Great Britain and the U.S., and the effects of World War II on the maternal mortality rate.Less
This chapter examines the levels and trends in maternal care and mortality in certain European countries. It suggests that maternal mortality rates in certain European countries, particularly in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark, were lower than those in Great Britain and the US because they had developed very different systems of maternal care with respect to the training and regulation of midwives and the development of obstetrics both as a branch of general practice and as a speciality. This chapter also examines the influence of genetic, socio-economic and cultural differences on the differences between European maternal mortality and that in Great Britain and the U.S., and the effects of World War II on the maternal mortality rate.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter discusses the problems in accurately determining maternal mortality rate. Ideally, pregnancies should be used as the denominator in the calculation of maternal mortality rate, but since ...
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This chapter discusses the problems in accurately determining maternal mortality rate. Ideally, pregnancies should be used as the denominator in the calculation of maternal mortality rate, but since the number of pregnancies can never be discovered because of the unknown and recorded number of abortions and miscarriages, births are used instead. Some of the problems that have confronted researchers in conducting historical and contemporary maternal mortality research include inaccuracy of stillbirth and multiple birth records, the length of gestation period, deaths of multiple causes, and the so-called hidden maternal deaths.Less
This chapter discusses the problems in accurately determining maternal mortality rate. Ideally, pregnancies should be used as the denominator in the calculation of maternal mortality rate, but since the number of pregnancies can never be discovered because of the unknown and recorded number of abortions and miscarriages, births are used instead. Some of the problems that have confronted researchers in conducting historical and contemporary maternal mortality research include inaccuracy of stillbirth and multiple birth records, the length of gestation period, deaths of multiple causes, and the so-called hidden maternal deaths.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This book studies maternal care and maternal mortality. Over the last two hundred years different countries developed quite different systems of maternal care. This book is an analysis, firmly ...
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This book studies maternal care and maternal mortality. Over the last two hundred years different countries developed quite different systems of maternal care. This book is an analysis, firmly grounded in the available statistics, of the evolution of those systems between 1800 and 1950 in Britain, the US, Australia and New Zealand, and continental Europe. The book examines the effectiveness of various forms of maternal care by means of the measurement of maternal mortality — the number of women who died as a result of childbirth. The study answers a number of questions: What was the relative risk of a home or hospital delivery, or a delivery by a midwife as opposed to a doctor? What was the safest country in which to have a baby, and what were the factors which accounted for enormous international differences? Why, against all expectations, did maternal mortality fail to decline significantly until the late 1930s?Less
This book studies maternal care and maternal mortality. Over the last two hundred years different countries developed quite different systems of maternal care. This book is an analysis, firmly grounded in the available statistics, of the evolution of those systems between 1800 and 1950 in Britain, the US, Australia and New Zealand, and continental Europe. The book examines the effectiveness of various forms of maternal care by means of the measurement of maternal mortality — the number of women who died as a result of childbirth. The study answers a number of questions: What was the relative risk of a home or hospital delivery, or a delivery by a midwife as opposed to a doctor? What was the safest country in which to have a baby, and what were the factors which accounted for enormous international differences? Why, against all expectations, did maternal mortality fail to decline significantly until the late 1930s?
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0028
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter compares maternal mortality in Australia and New Zealand. In the 1920s, about 700 mothers died annually from maternal causes. The distribution of maternal deaths by cause is similar to ...
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This chapter compares maternal mortality in Australia and New Zealand. In the 1920s, about 700 mothers died annually from maternal causes. The distribution of maternal deaths by cause is similar to those in Great Britain and the US Though the Australian statistics on maternal mortality leave much to be desired, it is clear that abortion was a major cause of death in Australia. Maternal mortality began its steep and uninterrupted descent in 1937, but the lowest level ever was recorded only in 1939. In New Zealand, maternal care was based on the British model, rather than the American or European models, that featured a mixture of home and hospital deliveries. The chapter highlights the trend in maternal mortality in New Zealand from 1930 to 1950.Less
This chapter compares maternal mortality in Australia and New Zealand. In the 1920s, about 700 mothers died annually from maternal causes. The distribution of maternal deaths by cause is similar to those in Great Britain and the US Though the Australian statistics on maternal mortality leave much to be desired, it is clear that abortion was a major cause of death in Australia. Maternal mortality began its steep and uninterrupted descent in 1937, but the lowest level ever was recorded only in 1939. In New Zealand, maternal care was based on the British model, rather than the American or European models, that featured a mixture of home and hospital deliveries. The chapter highlights the trend in maternal mortality in New Zealand from 1930 to 1950.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter discusses issues concerning the determinants of maternal mortality. It distinguishes between the immediate or direct causes of death and the causes of mortality levels within the ...
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This chapter discusses issues concerning the determinants of maternal mortality. It distinguishes between the immediate or direct causes of death and the causes of mortality levels within the populations. It suggests that clinical standards or the quality of obstetric practice and maternal preferences for taking clinical consultation significantly influence maternal mortality rate. Another important factor in determining mortality rate is poverty. Poverty may be distinguished between the so-called subsistence minimum concept and the relative deprivation concept.Less
This chapter discusses issues concerning the determinants of maternal mortality. It distinguishes between the immediate or direct causes of death and the causes of mortality levels within the populations. It suggests that clinical standards or the quality of obstetric practice and maternal preferences for taking clinical consultation significantly influence maternal mortality rate. Another important factor in determining mortality rate is poverty. Poverty may be distinguished between the so-called subsistence minimum concept and the relative deprivation concept.
K.S. Joseph
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- May 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195387902
- eISBN:
- 9780199895328
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195387902.003.0054
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Epidemiology
Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity have received increasing attention in both industrialized and less industrialized countries in recent years. The definition of maternal death and its ...
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Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity have received increasing attention in both industrialized and less industrialized countries in recent years. The definition of maternal death and its subtypes (direct, indirect, pregnancy-related and late) and the definitions and components of severe maternal morbidity (disease-based, intervention-based and organ dysfunction-based) are discussed in this chapter. Historical trends and international comparisons of maternal mortality are also presented along with the challenges in identifying and collecting information on maternal mortality and serious morbidity. Other issues highlighted in the chapter include the Millennium Development Goals, non-life threatening morbidity, and 3 specific causes of severe maternal morbidity, namely, postpartum hemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism and urinary incontinence. Methodologic issues related to the study of maternal mortality (e.g., study size and design issues, confounding by indication and mortality among pregnant versus non-pregnant women) and severe maternal morbidity (e.g., heterogeneity of a composite morbidity outcome) are also explored.Less
Maternal mortality and severe maternal morbidity have received increasing attention in both industrialized and less industrialized countries in recent years. The definition of maternal death and its subtypes (direct, indirect, pregnancy-related and late) and the definitions and components of severe maternal morbidity (disease-based, intervention-based and organ dysfunction-based) are discussed in this chapter. Historical trends and international comparisons of maternal mortality are also presented along with the challenges in identifying and collecting information on maternal mortality and serious morbidity. Other issues highlighted in the chapter include the Millennium Development Goals, non-life threatening morbidity, and 3 specific causes of severe maternal morbidity, namely, postpartum hemorrhage, amniotic fluid embolism and urinary incontinence. Methodologic issues related to the study of maternal mortality (e.g., study size and design issues, confounding by indication and mortality among pregnant versus non-pregnant women) and severe maternal morbidity (e.g., heterogeneity of a composite morbidity outcome) are also explored.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0026
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines the lying-in or maternity hospitals and the obstetricians in Europe. Though there was more childbirth in lying-in hospitals in Europe compared to Great Britain and the U.S., ...
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This chapter examines the lying-in or maternity hospitals and the obstetricians in Europe. Though there was more childbirth in lying-in hospitals in Europe compared to Great Britain and the U.S., European countries also experienced high maternal mortality rates caused by puerperal fever. Most of the cases were in hospital delivery. The chance of a woman contracting puerperal fever was around seven times higher if she was delivered in a maternity hospital in the mid-19th century than it would have been if she had been delivered at home.Less
This chapter examines the lying-in or maternity hospitals and the obstetricians in Europe. Though there was more childbirth in lying-in hospitals in Europe compared to Great Britain and the U.S., European countries also experienced high maternal mortality rates caused by puerperal fever. Most of the cases were in hospital delivery. The chance of a woman contracting puerperal fever was around seven times higher if she was delivered in a maternity hospital in the mid-19th century than it would have been if she had been delivered at home.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter discusses several causes of maternal mortality. These include contracted pelvis and rickets, and puerperal insanity or puerperal mania. Childhood rickets leads to a deformity of the ...
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This chapter discusses several causes of maternal mortality. These include contracted pelvis and rickets, and puerperal insanity or puerperal mania. Childhood rickets leads to a deformity of the pelvis known as the rickety flat pelvis, which can cause major complications in labour and thus affects maternal mortality. Puerperal insanity was more common in the 19th than the 20th century. It usually begins in the first or second postnatal week with patients exhibiting violence, extreme restlessness, irritability, and sleeping difficulty.Less
This chapter discusses several causes of maternal mortality. These include contracted pelvis and rickets, and puerperal insanity or puerperal mania. Childhood rickets leads to a deformity of the pelvis known as the rickety flat pelvis, which can cause major complications in labour and thus affects maternal mortality. Puerperal insanity was more common in the 19th than the 20th century. It usually begins in the first or second postnatal week with patients exhibiting violence, extreme restlessness, irritability, and sleeping difficulty.
Hoosen M Coovadia and Marie-Louise Newell
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199765126
- eISBN:
- 9780199918942
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199765126.003.0008
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
This chapter discusses the unique HIV/AIDS transmission patterns, progression of disease, and treatment constraints in young children that require prevention and treatment options tailored to this ...
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This chapter discusses the unique HIV/AIDS transmission patterns, progression of disease, and treatment constraints in young children that require prevention and treatment options tailored to this population. It examines interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission and decrease maternal death. The chapter stresses that, in preventing infants from acquiring HIV from mothers, it is as essential to prevent men from transmitting the virus to women as it is to prevent women from transmitting the virus perinatally. The chapter then turns to the latter stage of perinatal transmission and to postnatal transmission of HIV from mother to child. The most relevant data for developing countries on diagnosis and treatment of infants who become HIV infected is described. Finally, there are significant consequences to children born to HIV-infected mothers but who remain HIV uninfected—HIV-exposed children; this often neglected aspect is covered in some depth.Less
This chapter discusses the unique HIV/AIDS transmission patterns, progression of disease, and treatment constraints in young children that require prevention and treatment options tailored to this population. It examines interventions to prevent mother-to-child transmission and decrease maternal death. The chapter stresses that, in preventing infants from acquiring HIV from mothers, it is as essential to prevent men from transmitting the virus to women as it is to prevent women from transmitting the virus perinatally. The chapter then turns to the latter stage of perinatal transmission and to postnatal transmission of HIV from mother to child. The most relevant data for developing countries on diagnosis and treatment of infants who become HIV infected is described. Finally, there are significant consequences to children born to HIV-infected mothers but who remain HIV uninfected—HIV-exposed children; this often neglected aspect is covered in some depth.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines maternal mortality in pre-registration England, or the period covering 1800 to 1950. Data gathered from the London Bills of Mortality and parish registers suggests that there ...
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This chapter examines maternal mortality in pre-registration England, or the period covering 1800 to 1950. Data gathered from the London Bills of Mortality and parish registers suggests that there was a continuous and substantial decline in the maternal mortality rate in England from the second half of the 17th century to the first half of the 19th century. This trend may be attributed to an increase in the involvement of medical practitioners with children and to the significant rise in the number, status, skills, and efficiency of English midwives.Less
This chapter examines maternal mortality in pre-registration England, or the period covering 1800 to 1950. Data gathered from the London Bills of Mortality and parish registers suggests that there was a continuous and substantial decline in the maternal mortality rate in England from the second half of the 17th century to the first half of the 19th century. This trend may be attributed to an increase in the involvement of medical practitioners with children and to the significant rise in the number, status, skills, and efficiency of English midwives.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0016
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter examines maternal care and maternal mortality in Great Britain during the period from 1935 to 1950. During this period, the maternal mortality rate fell so steeply that the 1950 rate was ...
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This chapter examines maternal care and maternal mortality in Great Britain during the period from 1935 to 1950. During this period, the maternal mortality rate fell so steeply that the 1950 rate was only a fifth of the rate in 1935. The majority of women gave birth in hospital, and the mortality rate from all causes including abortion and puerperal fever fell significantly because of the development of sulphonamides. However, there are still criticisms that maternity services had become too technological and impersonal and dominated by male obstetricians prone to resort too readily to induction, instrumental delivery, or Caesarean section.Less
This chapter examines maternal care and maternal mortality in Great Britain during the period from 1935 to 1950. During this period, the maternal mortality rate fell so steeply that the 1950 rate was only a fifth of the rate in 1935. The majority of women gave birth in hospital, and the mortality rate from all causes including abortion and puerperal fever fell significantly because of the development of sulphonamides. However, there are still criticisms that maternity services had become too technological and impersonal and dominated by male obstetricians prone to resort too readily to induction, instrumental delivery, or Caesarean section.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 2000
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198204992
- eISBN:
- 9780191676444
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198204992.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter discusses the reduction in puerperal fever mortality in Great Britain during the 20th century. The improvement in the prevention and treatment of the disease is attributed to the ...
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This chapter discusses the reduction in puerperal fever mortality in Great Britain during the 20th century. The improvement in the prevention and treatment of the disease is attributed to the development of vaccines, antisepsis, and important research on the biology of the streptococcus. Between 1890 and 1912, maternal mortality was significantly reduced. From about twenty-five deaths for every 10,000 births in the 1890s it was reduced to only about thirteen or fourteen in England and Wales and sixteen or seventeen in Scotland.Less
This chapter discusses the reduction in puerperal fever mortality in Great Britain during the 20th century. The improvement in the prevention and treatment of the disease is attributed to the development of vaccines, antisepsis, and important research on the biology of the streptococcus. Between 1890 and 1912, maternal mortality was significantly reduced. From about twenty-five deaths for every 10,000 births in the 1890s it was reduced to only about thirteen or fourteen in England and Wales and sixteen or seventeen in Scotland.
Nicole S. Berry
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195374643
- eISBN:
- 9780199865390
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195374643.003.0016
- Subject:
- Public Health and Epidemiology, Public Health, Epidemiology
Maternal mortality has become one of the most important topics in global health, as evidenced by its inclusion in the eight Millennium Development Goals designated by the United Nations. This chapter ...
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Maternal mortality has become one of the most important topics in global health, as evidenced by its inclusion in the eight Millennium Development Goals designated by the United Nations. This chapter uses examples from ethnographic fieldwork with Kaqchikel Maya in Sololá, Guatemala, to explore reasons why lowering maternal mortality has been so challenging. It explores how understandings of pregnancy-related problems in areas where maternal mortality is high can be antithetical to those assumed by global health policies. In doing so, it provides an important example of how to reframe understandings of why women die, which, hopefully, can lead to new ways of addressing the problem.Less
Maternal mortality has become one of the most important topics in global health, as evidenced by its inclusion in the eight Millennium Development Goals designated by the United Nations. This chapter uses examples from ethnographic fieldwork with Kaqchikel Maya in Sololá, Guatemala, to explore reasons why lowering maternal mortality has been so challenging. It explores how understandings of pregnancy-related problems in areas where maternal mortality is high can be antithetical to those assumed by global health policies. In doing so, it provides an important example of how to reframe understandings of why women die, which, hopefully, can lead to new ways of addressing the problem.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0002
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter explains the measurement of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is defined in terms of the maternal deaths per 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 births. It can be measured either by simply ...
More
This chapter explains the measurement of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is defined in terms of the maternal deaths per 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 births. It can be measured either by simply counting the total number of deaths for a specific cause for a chosen period or by considering deaths from all causes in the total population or population at risk. There are several problems in conducting historical studies of mortality and the calculation of secular trends. These include the use of changing diagnostic categories and the use of vague and uncertain terms.Less
This chapter explains the measurement of maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is defined in terms of the maternal deaths per 1,000, 10,000 or 100,000 births. It can be measured either by simply counting the total number of deaths for a specific cause for a chosen period or by considering deaths from all causes in the total population or population at risk. There are several problems in conducting historical studies of mortality and the calculation of secular trends. These include the use of changing diagnostic categories and the use of vague and uncertain terms.
Irvine Loudon
- Published in print:
- 1992
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198229971
- eISBN:
- 9780191678950
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198229971.003.0008
- Subject:
- History, World Modern History, History of Science, Technology, and Medicine
This chapter discusses abortion, one of the main causes of maternal death in history. It examines abortion and abortion-related deaths in the U.S., Soviet Union, Great Britain, and other European ...
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This chapter discusses abortion, one of the main causes of maternal death in history. It examines abortion and abortion-related deaths in the U.S., Soviet Union, Great Britain, and other European countries. Deaths due to abortion can be divided into three groups: non-septic abortion, post-abortive sepsis combined with sepsis following childbirth, and the ‘coroner's’ or ‘inquest cases’ of abortion. This chapter also discusses the social and legal aspects of abortion.Less
This chapter discusses abortion, one of the main causes of maternal death in history. It examines abortion and abortion-related deaths in the U.S., Soviet Union, Great Britain, and other European countries. Deaths due to abortion can be divided into three groups: non-septic abortion, post-abortive sepsis combined with sepsis following childbirth, and the ‘coroner's’ or ‘inquest cases’ of abortion. This chapter also discusses the social and legal aspects of abortion.
