The Birth Certificate: An American History by Susan J. Pearson (review)

Abstract:In the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, children were susceptible to deadly infectious diseases. An increasing focus on the health of children led to the opening of fever hospitals, lock hospitals, sanatoria, and convalescent homes. This paper addresses the impact of infectious diseases on children in Scotland: their proximity to death, their experiences of medical treatment in hospital, the hospital regimes, and their separation from families. It will show how advances in sanitation, housing, medicine, and medical practice led to the demise of these types of hospital settings in the second half of the twentieth century, providing thought-provoking context to the COVID-19 pandemic.