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 Infant Mortality

Infant mortality refers to the death of a baby before its first birthday. Like his or her mother, a newborn faced a high risk of mortality during, and soon after, childbirth. Infant mortality in New France was significant. According to demographers, the rate of infant mortality before 1680 in the colony was 171 in 1000. From 1700 to 1730, it was 242 in 1000. [By comparison, the 2019 infant mortality rate in Canada was about 4.2 deaths per 1,000 live births.] At least one child out of four died before the age of one, of which 2-4% were stillborn or died during childbirth.

Due to the high mortality rate, the Catholic Church insisted that babies be baptized as soon as possible after birth. It even threatened parents with excommunication if the newborn wasn't brought to the church for baptism within four days, regardless of the weather or how cold it was. The majority of babies in New France were baptized within three days of their birth, most on the same day or the following day. If a baby was a risk of dying shortly after birth, an emergency baptism could be performed at home. Parents were told to keep a receptacle of holy water at home in case of such an emergency.

Being "baptisé sous condition" (baptized under condition) referred to the emergency baptism of a child, either by the doctor or the midwife (authorized by the clergy to be able to perform emergency baptisms), or another person present at the birth. Normally if the baptism wasn't performed by the doctor or the midwife, the family patriarch (if present) would do so. Newborn babies who appeared weak, fragile or who were at risk of dying before being properly baptized were "ondoyé", or baptized under condition. The priest had to indicate this fact on the baptismal record.

In this example, Augustin Amable Valiquette was born on 26 May 1740 in Pointe-Claire. The baptism record indicates that Marie Françoise Canpau, the wife of Pierre Valiquet, performed an emergency baptism when Augustin was born ("ondoyé par marie françoise canpau"). Augustin was one of the lucky ones; he lived until the age of 62.

 If the baby made it past the first days and weeks following birth, other dangers presented themselves. Not being breastfed increased the chances of contracting an illness, as breastmilk was beneficial in helping fight disease. Not being breastfed also meant the baby needed to be given other forms of nourishment, which increased the chances of being in contact with unsanitary hands or utensils.

The realities of being a working mother in New France (tending to children, household, garden and animals) meant that infants were often left unattended, or in the care of children. Unfortunately, accidents happened. Negligence wasn't a crime parents, or siblings, could be charged with. On the other end of the spectrum, babies could die from smothering, as it was common practice for mothers to sleep with their newborn babies, even though this was strongly discouraged by the church. Cribs existed, but they were mostly used during the day, and at night once the infant is older.

Fortunately, improvements in sanitation, personal hygiene, education, prenatal care, nutrition and later, milk purification and vaccinations, among other factors, have all contributed to lowering the rate of infant mortality in Canada.

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Sources:

• André Lachance, Vivre, aimer et mourir en Nouvelle-France; Juger et punir en Nouvelle-France: la vie quotidienne aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles (Montréal, Québec: Éditions Libre Expression, 2004), 40-42.

• Aaron O'Neill, "Canada: Infant Mortality Rate from 2009 to 2019", Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics/806726/infant-mortality-in-canada/), published 1 Apr 2021.

• Melissa Snell, "Surviving Infancy in the Middle Ages", 27 Aug 2020, ThoughtCo (https://www.thoughtco.com/medieval-child-surviving-infancy-1789124).