Cause of Death Debility of Immaturity

[helenmcd]

Hello

I would welcome the thoughts on the likely meaning of a cause of death for a very young baby please. Mary BRIGDEN died at 3 years of age in 1877 and the Cause of Death is, I think, written as "Debility of immaturity" and "Exhaustion". Copy of Snipped image attached - I hope.

I think it probably means she was born prematurely and I know that being born early could still be insurmountable even if it was only a few weeks, though I'm sure poverty could play a part too and other factors. My paternal grandparents first child death was recorded as due to being born 1 month early in 1907. How accurate that was I'm not sure. I've come across 'Failure to thrive', for babies; 'Debility' for elderly along with 'General debility'. I'm sure it was used when a cause wasn't known or identifiable, at the time.

Any comments will be welcome.

The parents are 2 of my great grandparents and they lost at least 3 of their 5 children, with only 2 reaching adulthood. My grandmother was one of those and she died young after the birth of her 3rd child. Her father died comparatively young, at only 37. I think he may have suffered from ill health for years as the family moved a great deal and though that wasn't unusual, it had a definite downward trajectory regarding the type of accommodation they had, He worked as a Tailor Master on his own account and illness would certainly have had a negative impact on his earning ability. Perhaps there were genetic factors as well as financial.

Thanks for reading, especially if you read all of it.

Helen

[Ashtone]

"Debility pointed to a birth before its natural moment or to the lack of 'vitality' in a new-born.
Prematurity represented a failure of natural timing when birth took place before its proper moment, and debility was a lack of that life force which made existence possible".

[Erato]

"lack of 'vitality' in a new-born"

But this child died at three years of age.

[Ashtone]

Oops! Sorry, I didn't see the 3 years old. Just saw "very young baby" in the first sentence. 
So, actually I'm kinda confused now. Normally I wouldn't associate a 3 year old as being a baby.

[JenB]

The GRO index shows the child’s age as ‘0’ years, so I think she must have been 3 weeks old?

[Ashtone]

Phew! 

[helenmcd]

Huge apologies. My post should read "....died at 3 days old in 1877...."  which makes all the difference. So sorry for noticing my mistake sooner.

Thanks for all your comments and apologies again for causing so much confusion.

Hello

I would welcome the thoughts on the likely meaning of a cause of death for a very young baby please. Mary BRIGDEN died at 3 years of age in 1877 and the Cause of Death is, I think, written as "Debility of immaturity" and "Exhaustion". Copy of Snipped image attached - I hope.

I think it probably means she was born prematurely and I know that being born early could still be insurmountable even if it was only a few weeks, though I'm sure poverty could play a part too and other factors. My paternal grandparents first child death was recorded as due to being born 1 month early in 1907. How accurate that was I'm not sure. I've come across 'Failure to thrive', for babies; 'Debility' for elderly along with 'General debility'. I'm sure it was used when a cause wasn't known or identifiable, at the time.

Any comments will be welcome.

The parents are 2 of my great grandparents and they lost at least 3 of their 5 children, with only 2 reaching adulthood. My grandmother was one of those and she died young after the birth of her 3rd child. Her father died comparatively young, at only 37. I think he may have suffered from ill health for years as the family moved a great deal and though that wasn't unusual, it had a definite downward trajectory regarding the type of accommodation they had, He worked as a Tailor Master on his own account and illness would certainly have had a negative impact on his earning ability. Perhaps there were genetic factors as well as financial.

Thanks for reading, especially if you read all of it.

Helen