[Towards a history of prematurity].

The infant's mortality calendar regarding populations in the past, testifies of an unusual concentration in the few days following births. A similar phenomenon can be observed nowadays as far as premature baby is confronted with and particularly hypothermia, the author puts forward the hypothesis that the very high neonatal mortality as well as the rate of stillbirths observed until the end of the XIXth century, would be first and foremost a consequence of early delivery caused by heavy domestic work. Various clues, among which the seasonal curve of neomortality, seem to confirm this hypothesis.