Revuelta Eugercios, Bárbara Ana (Author)
: Traditionally, infants abandoned at foundling hospitals were identified as “bastards” and “children of vice” whose health, to all intents and purposes, reflected the moral sins of their parents and thus, led to unavoidable mortality. By late 19th century, several changes challenged that consideration: a growing emphasis on the importance of fighting infant mor - tality, the appearance of a new, medicalized, ideal of motherhood, the spread of new medical theories, the appearance of disciplines like Child Health, the construction of pediatric wards, and maternity hospitals. The consequences of these changes had their greatest impact at La Inclusa due to its location in the capital city, close to the decision-making centres and as focus of the interest of the national media. This article examines the role of the press and the medical profession in successively denouncing La Inclusa's excess mortality during the period 1890-1935. By looking at daily press and medical publications, it sheds light on the uneven consequences of the press scandals denouncing foundlings' extreme mortality in the period. The first scandal (1899-1900) faded without acknowledging any excess foundling mortality; the second (1918) was initiated by the doctors in charge but only produced some changes. The third scandal (1927) was instrumental in bringing about the changes that would turn a century-old institution in a state-of-the art medicalized centre and the change from debris of society to healthy children of foundlings. The effects of the press coverage were not restricted locally to foundlings in Madrid, and had a wider impact: by making the public aware of the dire situation of foundlings, they contributed to the development of legislation related to the fight against infant mortality and the control of mercenary breastfeeding.
...More
Book
Margaret Porter;
Lucia Ferretti;
(1996)
Histoire de l'hôpital Sainte-Anne de Baie-Saint-Paul
(/isis/citation/CBB590786083/)
Book
Cossins, Anne;
(2013)
The Baby Farmers: A Chilling Tale of Missing Babies, Shameful Secrets and Murder in 19th Century Australia
(/isis/citation/CBB001421873/)
Article
Birn, Anne-Emanuelle;
(2007)
Child Health in Latin America: Historiographic Perspectives and Challenges
(/isis/citation/CBB000831531/)
Book
Sherwood, Joan;
(2010)
Infection of the Innocents: Wet Nurses, Infants, and Syphilis in France, 1780--1900
(/isis/citation/CBB001250811/)
Article
Mccalman, Janet;
Morley, Ruth;
(2003)
Mothers' Health and Babies' Weights: The Biology of Poverty at the Melbourne Lying-in Hospital, 1857--83
(/isis/citation/CBB000770487/)
Article
Álvarez, Adriana;
(2010)
La experiencia de ser un 'niño débil y enfermo' lejos de su hogar: el caso del Asilo Marítimo, Mar del Plata (1893--1920)
(/isis/citation/CBB001420440/)
Book
Lawrence Weaver;
Iain Hutchison;
Malcolm Nicolson;
(2016)
Child Health in Scotland: A History of Glasgow's Royal Hospital for Sick Children
(/isis/citation/CBB235672870/)
Book
David Wright;
(2017)
SickKids: The History of the Hospital for Sick Children
(/isis/citation/CBB802687262/)
Chapter
Tanner, Andrea;
(2009)
Care, Nurturance and Morality: The Role of Visitors and the Victorian London Children's Hospital
(/isis/citation/CBB001031536/)
Book
Gianluca Giachery;
(2023)
Il medico e il bambino. Ricostruzione storica e genealogia pedagogica in uno studio di fine Ottocento sull'isterismo infantile
(/isis/citation/CBB079957382/)
Article
Curtis, Stephan;
(2008)
In-Migration and Diphtheria Mortality among Children in the Sundsvall Region during the Epidemics of the 1880s
(/isis/citation/CBB000774472/)
Article
Lawrenson, Ross;
(2004)
Medical Practice in New Zealand (1769--1860)
(/isis/citation/CBB000932432/)
Chapter
Esther Diana;
(2023)
Il Medico Architetto: una nuova professionalità per la modernizzazione dell'ospedale Ottocentesco. Il caso fiorentino
(/isis/citation/CBB513332360/)
Chapter
Maria Malatesta;
(2021)
Fiducia, fiducie. Introduzione
(/isis/citation/CBB077106693/)
Article
Marston, Adrian;
(2007)
The Stathams of Stone and Islington
(/isis/citation/CBB000831623/)
Article
Barker, Clyde F.;
(2009)
Thomas Eakins and His Medical Clinics
(/isis/citation/CBB001232045/)
Article
Pantelidou, Maria;
Demetriades, Andreas K.;
(2014)
The Enigmatic Figure of Dr Henry Maudsley (1835--1918)
(/isis/citation/CBB001421995/)
Article
Washington, Garrett L.;
(2013)
St. Luke's Hospital and the Modernisation of Japan, 1874--1928
(/isis/citation/CBB001421856/)
Article
Carpenter, Mary Wilson;
(2013)
Lister's Relationship with Patients: “A successful case”
(/isis/citation/CBB001320255/)
Article
Wildman, Stuart;
(2014)
“Docile Bodies” or “Impudent” Women: Conflicts between Nurses and Their Employers, in England, 1880--1914
(/isis/citation/CBB001421911/)
Be the first to comment!