How to enter a birthdate when mother died shortly after, but only have source for Baptism?

Question

The mother died in childbirth or soon after. The date of the child's birth is marked as "before" the date of baptism (after the death of the mother) I have entered. The warning does not take the "before" button into its consideration. 

This warning has appeared in other of my profiles where the date of birth has been entered as "before" the date of baptism, and the baptism of the child occurs after the death or burial date of the mother (or father). I believe it is more correct to enter a known date (as of baptism) and mark it "before" (and to "save anyway") than to enter an "about" year for the child in the year of a parent's death. What is Wikitree's policy for this occurrence?

Comments

If you have the date for the mother's death, then by far it would be better to use that date rather than the later baptism.  The child could not have been born after the mother died unless the child was taken from an already deceased mother.  This would be extremely rare in that time period, as normally if a mother died while giving birth the child also died.

(At best it would be same day.)

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This is true, if you have an exact date of death for the mother, but it's possible the warning may still appear. At present it still does in the case I linked to below, where you set the father's death to be "after" the year the child was born: the "after" status is not taken into account.

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Hello Melanie

Unfortunately the situation is never as simple as that. The child may have been born months or years previous to her mothers death, it is only surmise that the mother died in childbirth. The definite date is the child's baptism - regardless of of mother's death or burial.

Warm regards, Josephine

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In the case of the father, the child may be posthumous.

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The child must still have been born on or before the date the mother died.  At best it may have been born the day the mother died.  Regardless, using the date of the mother's death, marked as before, or uncertain, is better than using a date days/weeks/months after the mother's death.

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I think you also need to keep in mind that a baptism might occur quite a while after a birth. I have seen several children in a family with the same baptism date, maybe there was no one to officiate at a time near the birth.

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Using the death date of the mother marked before and making a note in the biography of the actual baptism date may end up being the best option.

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The best answer to this question is Jim Richardson's below.

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The baptism clearly is not the "best day" for the child's birth, it is physiologically impossible for the child to be born on that baptism date, given that the mother was already dead by that date. While baptisms are very helpful in giving genealogists clues as to when individuals were born, they are only that: clues and hints. The correct estimation of the date would be before the mother's death date. 

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Thank you for your comment E Logan. Following the conversation (below) begun by Jim Richardson, and clarified by Melanie Paul, the consensus in this case is that the child's birth should be noted as "before" the known date of her mother's death.

Answer 1

I agree: enter the birth date as "before" the baptism. Then click "Save anyway" when you see the warning message, either on the child's profile or the mother's or both.

You will have to do that every time you edit the profile, not just when you create it. However, Jamie may be working on a fix for this kind of problem: see here.

Comments

The problem I -and others - have with this solution is that the child could not have been born between the mother's death and that child's baptism.  The child MUST have been born on or before the date of the mother's death.

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I agree, Melanie. My answer was hasty. Thank you for awarding a star Josephine, but I have removed it.

If you only have approximate dates, or in the case of a father, the question becomes more complicated, but what Melanie says is very clear in the particular situation of the original question.

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Thank you Melanie

I've changed her date of birth to "before" the mothers date of death.

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I have given you the star again for the quality of your answer including the link to further discussion, and for Melanie's reply within it - for which I can't award the star to her reply although it is deserved.