Posts Tagged ‘Public Health’

Tales from Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery: Public Health Policy Saves the Lives of Mothers and Babies

Julia Abram died from complications of childbirth on June 1, 1874. She was 22 years old. Her husband remarried and Isabell, his daughter with his second wife, died on August 22, 1877 from inanition. Photo: Tim McCall By SUE HUNTER WEIR Julia Abrams was just 22 years old when she died after giving birth in 1874. Julia is only one of 110 women buried in Minneapolis Pioneers and Soldiers Memorial Cemetery who either died during childbirth or shortly afterward from complications caused by their pregnancies. There are undoubtedly more but since doctors used a variety of words to describe the cause of death, it is hard, if not impossible, to say how many. “Peritonitis” might refer to an infection but it might also refer to something like appendicitis.The women’s ages ranged from 16 to 53. Anna Griffin was the youngest of the women; she was barely 16 years old when she died; her baby died from malnutrition 15 days later. Mary Zustiak was 53 when she died in 1915. The majority of [...]