I cant believe people are shocked to see corset piercings - theyre quite common, but also done in a very, very shonky fashion 99% of the time that leads to nothing but scarring and rejection of the metal...
Ideally they should be done with custon staple bars set with end beads made to accomodate the ribbon, rather than the silly cbr's people somehow decide are suitable for surface piercings...
Also, that old bird you would find doesn't have that corset all that tight at all, to tighten it that far in the first place she would have had to have spent quite some measure of time reshaping her torso, hence, it's almost definitely more or less the natural shape of her waist...
In so far as 5 year olds dying and girls fainting, as well as potential damage to internal organs, I can't vouch for the 5 year old, but I wouldnt be surprised...
The dangers of torsion to the organs and all sorts of other damge, particularly to the intestines are very real... as I said earlier, it's basically a matter of how fast you take it - the slower your willing to take the process of changing the shape of the torso, the better - it's as dangerous as you make it.
The 5 year olds death was most likely a result of the fact that an extremely constricted and altered waist was incredbily fashionable at the time, resulting in her being pushed for it be her mother or father who really believed that it would do her good... and wounnd up completely fucking her organs via the advanced constriction that her body simply wasn't ready for.
Fainting too, is well documented, simply because it can be a very intense constriction - particularly if it's a new sensation for the wearer, it can be very difficult on the lungs.
So far as corsets whilst pregnant... i doubt it.
Or actually that's kind of funny in a sick way...