Infant Mortality in Mother and Baby Homes in 20th Century Ireland
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11291129 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Liam Delaney (0000-0002-3644-1161, London School of Economics and Political Science), Mark E Mcgovern (0000-0003-0131-3466, Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, corresponding author), James P Smith (0000-0001-7432-126X) |
| Year | 2024 |
| Volume | 43 |
| Issue | 5 |
| Publication date | 2024-10-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Population Research and Policy Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0167-5923 • E-ISSN: 1573-7829 |
| Publisher | Springer Science and Business Media LLC (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1007/s11113-024-09901-7 |
| OpenAlex | W4401995146 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 1 |
| References cited | 30 |
During the first half of the 20th century, infant mortality in the general population fell by more than 50% in higher income countries. Despite accounting for a disproportionately high share of deaths in these countries during this period, few quantitative studies have examined the experiences of infants who were born or raised in an institutional context. In this paper, we quantify mortality rates in Mother and Baby Homes in Ireland, institutions that were aimed primarily at unmarried mothers and their infants. Using information on over 40,000 infants born in the 6 largest of these insitutions in Ireland, we assess how this risk of mortality changed over the course of the 20th century relative to the general population, and assess variation in death rates by observed characteristics. The mortality penalty for these institutions was greatly elevated, reaching four times the national mortality rate in the 1930s and 1940s. By comparing the outcomes of infants from the Mother and Baby Homes with the rest of the population using large-scale quantitative data, this study documents the scale of the disadvantage faced by marginalised communities born outside public hospital systems, and highlights the potential role of nutrition-related causes in these disparities
Context (archaeology · Developed country · Disadvantage · Economics · Environmental health · Geography · Infant mortality · Mortality rate · Political science · Population · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Birth, Development, and Health · Demography · Global Health Care Issues · Health disparities and outcomes · Medicine
National, regional, and global levels and trends in neonatal mortality between 1990 and 2017, with scenario-based projections to 2030
Racial Discrimination and Adverse Birth Outcomes
Closing the gap in a generation
Narrativized discursive legitimation
The urban mortality transition in the united states, 1800-1940
Irish urban history
Early-Life Circumstances and Their Effects Over the Life Course
Birth Outcome Measures and Infant Mortality
Direct and indirect effects on infant mortality in a high-fertility US population
Trends in the relationship between socioeconomic status and infant mortality in metropolitan Ohio, 1960?1990
The role of public health improvements in health advances
Exporting Poor Health
Watersheds in Child Mortality
Explaining declines in US rural mortality, 1910–1933
Mother and Child
Reinforcing the family
Infant Health, Women's Fertility, and Rural Electrification in the United States, 1930-1960
Urban-Rural Mortality Differentials
Urban-rural Differentials in Infant Mortality in Victorian England
La pénalité urbaine en matière d'espérance de vie pendant la transition sanitaire au Danemark, 1850-1910
| Unique citing works | 1 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2025 - 2025 (1) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |