2 ms·
Could you please provide a citation for this claim? It's fascinating if true, but I wonder which societies did this and what documentation there is for this pra
by mainstreemm 6y ago
Could you please provide a citation for this claim? It's fascinating if true, but I wonder which societies did this and what documentation there is for this practice. My understanding was that prior to the 20th century child mortality -- and mothers dying in childbirth -- were both common enough as to be practically mundane, or at least, as mundane as any death ever is.
- narag 6y agoPrior to 20th century? For my grandparents' generation it was common that about a third of their siblings died during their chilhood, mostly before one year old. And I'm not so old ;)
- redis_mlc 6y agoI think he wanted a citation for this: > It was common to give the newborn away to a nurse if you could afford it until it had survived the first year I wasn't aware of that practice, although before around 1994 there were all kinds of institutions that don't exist now, which is literally why downtown SF is the way it is. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinstitutionalisation https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinstitutionalisation