‘Het vreeselijke euvel der hooge zuigelingen-sterfte’

Naar een preventieve zuigelingenzorg in Maastricht 1900-1940

Samenvatting

‘The dreadful affliction of high infant mortality’: towards preventive infant care in Maastricht, 1900–1940

New ideas about public health and hygiene developed in the Netherlands after 1850. Rising awareness of high infant mortality – highlighted by statistics and changing moral views – sparked growing concern after 1900. In Maastricht, two private associations shifted from traditional philanthropic aid to a more systematic, science based approach to reducing infant mortality. They promoted breastfeeding, provided safe infant formula through a milk depot, and organized an infant welfare center where a doctor monitored infants’ development and guided mothers on hygiene. Home visits reinforced this advice. Maternity care aimed to reduce risks for both mothers and newborns. After 1920, combating infant mortality in Maastricht and Limburg became a prominent regional and national priority. The provincial public healthcare association, supported by state subsidies, developed a Catholic based network of infant welfare centers, pediatricians, general practitioners and nurses.
Preventive infant care increasingly relied on scientific approaches to nutrition, growth, and disease prevention, combined with efforts to shape mothers’ behavior through structured guidance and supervision by professionals. These scientific methods were closely tied to moral ideals, especially about breastfeeding and motherhood. Nutrition and bodyweight became central indicators of infant health and proper care. Mothers responded in varied ways to advice: some resisted or avoided the welfare center, others actively welcomed guidance, and most showed a combination of cooperation and reluctance in their interaction with professionals. Overall, in the course of four decades a system of preventive infant care was developed in Maastricht (and Limburg).