Children’s Mortality in the Province of Coquimbo (1905-1930)

Abstract

The article analyzes the demographic phenomenon of child mortality in the Province of Coquimbo between 1905-1930. The thesis suggests that the increase in infant mortality at the beginning of the last century transformed the problem into a public issue addressed by the medical-political elite together with the State. The concern of the provincial authorities was translated into a set of health policies that sanitized the environment, food and created a network of medical establishments focused on children. The historical sources on which such premises are supported were newspapers, parliamentary bulletins, specialized books and the Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Chile. The conclusions affirm, among other things, that the institution of a pro-childhood health organization and the incipient development of pediatrics created a historical demographic, scientific and social situation that laid the foundations for a gradual decrease in infant mortality during the rest of twentieth century.