BIRTH AND MORTALITY RATES AMONG SLAVE INFANTS ON SOUTHERN PLANTATIONS

Abstract

THERE seems to be no end of writings about the Ante-bellum South but one of the most neglected fields has been the health of the slaves. Recently a monograph appeared dealing with this subject and since there are no better criteria in judging health standards than a study of infant birth and mortality rates, a further interpretation of the data presented in this monograph with some additional facts is herewith presented. There was nothing the planter was more interested in than the increase of his slaves through the birth and rearing of children, and within the bounds of medical knowledge of the period, he took the time and effort to promote conditions that were conducive to the rearing of large families. The first care of the planter was the prenatal care of the mother. Rules were drawn up by the planter and overseers were instructed in the care of the expectant mother. Crude as this care was in comparison to our knowledge today it was still far superior to anything the Negro had known in Africa, and it compared favorably with the medical knowledge of the ante-bellum period. As soon as the mother reported her condition she was assigned lighter tasks. On confinement she was sent to the lying-in room of the plantation hospital or, if the plantation was large enough, to a separate hospital maintained for such cases. Throughout rural America confinement cases were usually handled by midwives or "grannies" as they were sometimes known. A Negro woman would serve as midwife for the plantation, serving both white and black.