Hostname: page-component-7c8c6479df-ws8qp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-03-28T09:19:43.766Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Birth spacing and infant mortality: evidence for eighteenth and nineteenth century German villages

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Anne R. Pebley
Affiliation:
Office of Population Research, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ
Albert I. Hermalin
Affiliation:
Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
John Knodel
Affiliation:
Population Studies Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA

Summary

Data from an historical population in which fertility control was minimal and modern health services were mostly unavailable are used to show that there appears to have been a strong association between previous birth interval length and infant mortality, especially when the previous child survived. Although only imperfect proxies for breast-feeding practices and other potentially confounding factors are available for this population, the results suggest that the association between previous interval length and infant mortality in this population is not solely, or primarily, a function of differences in breast-feeding behaviour or socioeconomic status. Other factors, e.g. maternal depletion or sibling competition, are more likely to explain the observed association.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1991, Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aaby, P., Bukh, J., Lisse, L. M. & Smits, A. J. (1984) Overcrowding and intensive exposure as determinants of measles mortality. Am J. Epidemol. 120, 49.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Bean, L. L., Mineau, G. P. & Anderton, D. L. (1987) Reproductive Behaviour and Child Survival Among Nineteenth-Century Mormons. Committee on Population, National Research Council, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (1987) Does family planning reduce infant mortality rates? Popul. Dev. Rev. 13, 323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bongaarts, J. (1988) Does family planning reduce infant mortality rates? Reply. Popul. Dev. Rev. 14, 188.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Costello, C. (1986) Maternal and Child Health in Rural Uganda: The Role of Nutrition. PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania.Google Scholar
DaVanzo, J., Butz, W. P. & Habicht, J.-P. (1983) How biological and behavioural influences on mortality in Malaysia vary during the first year of life. Popul. Stud. 37, 381.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, M. & Jacobowitz, S. (1981) Variations in infant mortality rates among counties of the United States: the roles of public policies and programs. Demography, 18, 695.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hobcraft, J. N., McDonald, J. W. & Rutstein, S. O. (1983) Child-spacing effects on infant and early child mortality. Popul. Index, 49, 585.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hobcraft, J. N., McDonald, J. W. & Rutstein, S. O. (1985) Demographic determinants of infant and early child mortality: a comparative analysis. Popul. Stud. 39, 363.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knodel, J. E. (1988) Demographic Behaviour in the Past. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Knodel, J. & Hermalin, A. I. (1984) Effects of birth rank, maternal age, birth interval, and sibship size on infant and child mortality: evidence from 18th and 19th century reproductive histories. Am. J. publ. Hlth, 74, 1098.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Merchant, K. & Martorell, R. (1988) Frequent reproductive cycling: does it lead to nutritional depletion of mothers? Prog. Food Nutr. Sci. 12, 339.Google ScholarPubMed
Miller, J. E. (1989) Is the relationship between birth intervals and perinatal mortality spurious? Evidence from Hungary and Sweden. Popul. Stud. 43, 479.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
National Academy of Sciences Committee on Population (1989) Contraception and Reproduction: Health Consequences for Women and Children in the Developing World. National Research Council, Washington, DC.Google Scholar
Palloni, A. & Millman, S. (1986) Effects of inter-birth intervals and breastfeeding on infant and early childhood mortality. Popul. Stud. 40, 215.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pebley, A. R. & Stupp, P. W. (1987) Reproductive patterns and child mortality in Guatemala. Demography, 24, 43.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Potter, J. E. (1988) Does family planning reduce infant mortality? Popul. Dev. Rev. 14, 179.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenzweig, M. & Schultz, T. P. (1983) Estimating a household production function: heterogeneity, the demand for health inputs, and their effects on birth weight. J. polit. Econ. 91, 723.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Trussell, J. (1988) Does family planning reduce infant mortality? An exchange. Popul. Dev. Rev. 14, 171.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Winikoff, B. (1983) The effects of birthspacing on child and maternal health. Stud. Fam. Plann. 14, 231.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wolfers, D. & Scrimshaw, S. (1975) Child survival and intervals between pregnancies in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Popul. Stud. 29, 479.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed