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I was asked last year, why there were so many infant deaths in New France and recently was asked by another person much the same question. So I've been gradually working on researching that question.Here is what I found : First, I say put yourself back in that time period. Say 1600. What did they not have back then that we have today. Then, Lack of medical knowledge in comparison to today.Lack of Medical people, Doctors were few and far between.Hygiene< Hmmmmm whats that?Did they have Germs back then? Sure, but its what you cant, see cant hurt you type attitude.How many microscopes where in New France?Home births were close to all they had. Assisted and unassisted.Home concoctions for remedies to all problems.A few early deaths would be classified as Natural Causes.Filth and vermin, have to count that also.In those early births, compared to today, today there is a cure for almost everything. Not all, but most. Clean comfortable hospitals and nurses and Doctors and staff to help with everything.Medical technology that would be looked on as miracles back in the 1600s.The wealth of early families was measured in the amount of children they had. Most early settlers were farm people and it takes lots of manpower to run a farm.It was not pleasant to loose a new born, but back then it was an excepted way of life. (try, try again) seemed to be the attitude.I've seen as many as 24 children to one set of parents. Many died and some survived.But, many large families were extended families, one husband and 3-4 wife's, as they would die in childbirth.But most of this can be applied to times earlier then 1600s ,1700s, 1800s and in other countries as well. Lack of knowledge in all respects was a main cause.But many other reasons could apply also.Poverty, lack of proper food and nutrition, which would of course be distributed my the Mother to the new born and other older children.Here is a good one, did you know what happened in 1663 ? from Feb. 1663 till around Jan 1663 a major Earthquake with major tremors lasting almost a year. Around the Charlevoix area in the St Lawrence River.I've never seen and actual total of deaths from that event, but it was a catastrophic just the same. Buildings would fall, cave ins would happen. But just don't think of the early settlers of Quebec, there were plenty of First Nations there also that suffered from it.How about plain old accidents. Babies once they start crawling can get into lots of trouble even today. Example there was always an open flame in the house, fire place and candles.There was cases of neglect of a child. Not many but it did occur. Such as feeding , undernourished. Die of starvation.Breast feeding was a big thing in the olden times, what if the Mother couldn't supply enough breast milk? If lucky they may find a neighbour who was nursing to share.Home remedies was sometimes called, POISONING. Most times not intentional, lack of knowledge would really cover that.Suffocation was another cause, that occasionally happens today, baby rolls over and suffocates.But what else could cause early infant deaths, and older children and adults? Many, take your pick.Influenza, Cholera, typhus, typhoid, diphtheria, consumption, scarlet fever, smallpox, viral infections,asthma, to name a few.But as time came closer to the present, and if you were of some wealth, simple things in your homes would cause death, 1700 & 1800s and forward, if you had wallpaper in your house, it had a arsenic base, which, when it flaked off and got on the floor a child/baby could easily put in their mouths, arsenic poisoning.A baby or young child could be beat to death, not common in New France but it existed everywhere. Child was unwanted, so kill it.Later time periods, if the child had toys, homemade and painted, the paint was lead based. Poisoning unintentional, lack of knowledge.Baby cures for many problems, was a dose of arsenic or laudanum. So many baby cures were baby deaths, unintentional.And lets not forget First Nations. It was devastating to them, they had babies also, who died of the White Mans disease which he brought from Europe that was never before in North America.And lastly, First Nations were responsible for many infant deaths of White Folks and Captives. When they raided and took hostages, babies were among the captives. But its a long walk back to New France from , for example, Deerfield , Massachusetts. Babies could not endure the long walk back in the cold and extreme temperatures.. So in many cases the First Nation would take them by their legs and beat their brains out on a tree. Pretty cruel, you say, but, these were Christian Natives and in their mind it was a sort of euthanasia, so the baby would not suffer starvation and freezing long the way, which of course would end in death anyway. They thought of it as a kindness.So, is there more, yep. But these are some of the main reasons that come down to us in History of New France, but can be applied to the early USA also and in parts Europe.1659-1647 Typhus out break1830 Cholera1730 Influenza1710 Yellow Fever1755-1757 Smallpox1759 Measles1761 Influenza1772 Measles1773 Baie St Paul Disease= Syphilis1775-1776 Influenza1885 Smallpox1830 Cholera1914-1920 InfluenzaAnytime cause of death :Freezing,Ice bridges, Dysentery, Scurvy, Scabies, Intestinal ailmentsParasitesPurple FeverIt was believed that birth residues were believed to protect the newborn from disease, in other words babies were not cleaned at birth. ( <I'll bet my nasal passages would be assaulted by that smell)They also didn't believe in washing the babies hair as they thought the oils would keep it healthy.Lets not forget those pesky little critters Lice and Mites.How about contamination? Where did you dump waste, anywhere and everywhere. , And the same rivers they dumped in, they drank that water.1/5th of all babies died in the 1700s1/4 of all babies died in the 1800s. So there you have it. I'm sure you could find more, but those were and are now some of the causes of baby death and everyone's death. BestBill
-- Cemetery Reports
