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What was killing babies in Sundsvall? A study of infant mortality patterns using individual level cause of death data, 1860–1892
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-9188-5518
Umeå University, Faculty of Social Sciences, Centre for Demographic and Ageing Research (CEDAR).ORCID iD: 0000-0001-7439-002x
2025 (English)In: Historical Life Course Studies, E-ISSN 2352-6343, Vol. 15, p. 1-27Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

In this article, we analyse infant mortality in Sundsvall 1860–1892. The focus is on the pattern and development of causes of death with separate analyses of neonatal and post-neonatal mortality. Furthermore, we discuss the development of infant mortality in relation to possible determinants in the historical context in Sundsvall. The results show substantial differences between neonatal and post-neonatal mortality when it comes to causes of death as well as their seasonal pattern. For deaths in the first 28 days, a large proportion of the deaths were diagnosed as unknown disease or given vague and symptom-descriptive diagnoses. For post-neonatal mortality on the other hand, the dominant cause of death categories were water-and food-borne infections and air-borne infections. Water-and food-borne diseases had a very strong seasonal pattern with the peak in late summer — July and August. There is no indication that sanitary improvements in the 1880's led to fewer cases of diarrhoea. Mortality from air-borne diseases on the other hand was lowest during summer, instead peaking in the winter months.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
International Institute of Social History , 2025. Vol. 15, p. 1-27
Keywords [en]
19th Century Sweden, Historical causes of death, ICD10H, Individual level cause of death data, Infant mortality patterns
National Category
Public Health, Global Health and Social Medicine History Demography
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:umu:diva-235677DOI: 10.51964/hlcs19299Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85217237997OAI: oai:DiVA.org:umu-235677DiVA, id: diva2:1939716
Available from: 2025-02-24 Created: 2025-02-24 Last updated: 2025-02-24Bibliographically approved

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Hiltunen Maltesdotter, MariaEdvinsson, Sören

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