Stillbirth registration and perceptions of infant death, 1900-60: the Scottish case in national context.

Gayle Davis

doi:10.1111/j.1468-0289.2009.00478.x

Abstract

The history of vital registration has attracted substantial attention from both social historians and historical demographers. While much of that research has touched upon issues of fertility and mortality, the contentious issue of the stillborn child—which falls somewhere between the two—has been largely neglected. Although civil birth and death registration was introduced to Scotland in 1855, stillbirth registration did not begin until 1939. Using a range of legal, medical, and statistical evidence, this article explores the history of stillbirth registration in Scotland from a social history perspective. It outlines the problems associated with lack of stillbirth registration, the processes that eventually led to registration of the stillborn child, and the wider significance of that registration.

Highlights

The history of vital registration has attracted substantial attention from both social historians and historical demographers
Using a range of legal, medical, and statistical evidence, this article explores the history of stillbirth registration in Scotland from a social history perspective
It outlines the problems associated with lack of stillbirth registration, the processes that eventually led to registration of the stillborn child, and the wider significance of that registration

Summary

By GAYLE DAVIS

The history of vital registration has attracted substantial attention from both social historians and historical demographers. In Scotland the proportion of births that were attended by a doctor was higher than in England, so it was argued that many Scottish stillbirths were medically attended.[94] as the English Registrar General himself accepted, even if useful material was not forthcoming for some time, at least a beginning would have been made.[95] The Department suggested that an effect of the requirement to state cause of death would be that practitioners would learn to regard stillbirths ‘as something worthy of their full attention’, which would in itself ‘be fruitful of good results’ in time.[96] As for remarks about the difficulty of classification, the answer was ‘first get your Causes and see about classifying them’.97 It was considered a defect of the English legislation that cause of stillbirth was not registered.[98]. Registration of Still-Births (Scotland) Act, 1938’, section 1(2). See, for example, NAS, GRO5/2006/9, Secretary, Office of Registrar General, to the Registrar, District in Aberdeenshire, 19 April 1939. NAS, GRO5/2006/5, Consultant, Rankin Memorial Hospital, Greenock, to the Secretary, GRO, Edinburgh, 1 April 1947. NAS, GRO5/2013/1, Registrar, Glasgow Royal Maternity and Women’s Hospital, to Superintendent of Statistics, Registrar General’s Office, Edinburgh, 3 Nov. 1949

England and Wales

Findings

Date submitted Revised version submitted Accepted