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WHEN AN INFANT OR A CHILD DIES
At the beginning of the twentieth century, children under the age of 15 made up 34 percent of the U.S. population but accounted for 53 percent of the total deaths. Eighty years later, children made up only 22 percent of the population and merely 3 percent of total deaths. Children are highly valued in our society, and their deaths are considered major tragedies. No matter what the cause of premature death - miscarriage, fatal birth defects, childhood illness, accident, suicide, homicide, or war injuries - the grief experienced when a child dies may be overwhelming.
The death of a child is terribly painful for the whole family. However, for several reasons, the siblings of the deceased child have a particularly hard time with grief work. Bereaved children usually have limited experience with death and therefore have not yet learned how to deal with major loss. Children may feel uncomfortable talking about death, and they may also receive less social support and sympathy than do the parents of the deceased child. Because so much attention and energy are devoted to the deceased child, the surviving children may also feel emotionally abandoned by their parents.
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GENERAL HEALTH
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