How common was it for parents to lose a child?
ourworldindata.org
How common was it for parents to lose a child?
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Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#2This is something that struck me when reading Dickens; people died, a lot. One thing it highlights to me is the importance of modern medicine and antibiotics. Another thing is how different the human experience is now for most of the world; children and death are much less common (for most) than previous centuries. Sure this is common knowledge, but taken for granted I believe.
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#3typo in the title : "was it was"
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#4I have said for a long time that having a child die is one of the most human experiences (more flagrantly "welcome to being human"). We are fortunate to live in a time where it has become a rarity. Nice to see someone try to put numbers on it.
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#5This is something that struck me when reading Dickens; people died, a lot. One thing it highlights to me is the importance of modern medicine and antibiotics. Another thing is how different the human experience is now for most of the world; children and death are much less common (for most) than previous centuries. Sure this is common knowledge, but taken for granted I believe.
This reminds me of this passing from thhgtth:
"Some may be extremely rich, but that’s nothing to be ashamed of, because nobody is really poor – at least nobody worth speaking of."
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#6The decline in child mortality explains why anti-vaxxers are getting footing. They’ve never had to watch a child die from something that was readily preventable with cheap, nearly risk-free medicine.
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#7From genealogy it appears to me that before the dawn of antibiotics and vaccines all parents had at least some children die of childhood diseases. The only exceptions I find are cases such as where the woman has two children then dies herself in childbirth or shortly thereafter from complications, and both children eventually grow up. Having no dead children a century ago and beyond seems to have been a very rare experience.
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#8One thing that shocked me was finding out J.S. Bach had 20 children, out of two marriages.
Of these, 4 died during birth, and 6 died within the first five years.
I can't even imagine what losing ten kids would be like, even if you have ten more.
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#9The decline in child mortality explains why anti-vaxxers are getting footing. They’ve never had to watch a child die from something that was readily preventable with cheap, nearly risk-free medicine.
Not sure if vaccines are relevant here because -- as per the CDC data, and contrary to popular belief -- child mortality rates were on a downward trend well before the introduction of vaccines in the mid 1960s. The CDC claim it's had a "modest" effect:
Infant mortality: https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4838a2.htm
Edit: children mortality follows similar trend: https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/child-mortality?tab=chart...
Re: How common was it for parents to lose a child?
#10As a fairly recent father of a toddler, I was a bit hesitant to click the link. It's just one of those things you think about but quickly bury to the back of your mind.
The quotes of grief from the article especially resonated. "Inexplicable" grief comes to mind. Thank goodness for modern medicine, healthcare and vaccinations.