re: #126 Timothy Watson

And the United States continues to have one of the worse maternal mortality rates of the industrialized world, between Iran and Hungary.

My paternal grandfather’s mother died at age 24, several months after he was born. Intestinal infection was the listed cause, but it may have been a complication of the birthing process. My mom’s mom also died a year after giving birth, but from pulmonary disease. She was a garment worker in NYC.

My great-grandfather remarried in 1860. They had eight children, but only four survived to adulthood. This was a middle class family with access to decent (for the time) medical care.