BIRTH WEIGHTS AND STILLBIRTHS IN HISTORICAL-PERSPECTIVE

Data on birth weights and the percentage of stillborn babies during th e late nineteenth and early twentieth century, taken from hospitals re cords in Edinburgh, Vienna, Dublin, Boston, Montreal and Philadelphia reflect the social class and living standard of their patients as well as socio-economic developments in these cites. To the extent that the se hospital records also contained information on the mother's age, pa rity, occupation, ethnic and religious background, marital status and gender of the child, some inferences can be made on influences on intr auterine growth and birth outcome.