10. Maternal depletion and infant mortality

Engelen, Th.L.M.; Wolf, Angelika

doi:10.1515/9789048514687-011

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

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“…The effect of birth interval and mother's age suggests that maternal depletion played a role, but that it affected boys more than girls. This is as expected because of the different biological resistance of males and females to illness, with girls having a stronger immune response to infection during the first year of life (Conde-Agudelo et al, 2012;Engelen & Wolf, 2011;Kozuki & Walker, 2013;Winkvist et al, 1992). When a previous sibling died as an infant, this had an increased effect on the mortality risks of infant girls and boys, although this result is not statistically significant for neonatal mortality of boys.…”

Section: Results: Cox Proportional-hazard Modelssupporting

confidence: 59%

“…7 These are included because short birth intervals or high mother's age may cause maternal depletion that increases mortality risks. In addition, they may also reflect availability and experience in caregiving (Conde-Agudelo, Rosas-Bermúdez, Castano, & Norton, 2012;Engelen & Wolf, 2011;Kozuki & Walker, 2013;Winkvist, Rasmussen, & Habicht, 1992). Information on whether or not the previous infant dies as an infant is included because the probabilities of surviving within a sibling set may not be independent, due to shared heredity and environment.…”

Section: Data Measurement and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Testing the conditional resource-dilution hypothesis: the impact of sibship size and composition on infant and child mortality in the Netherlands, 1863–1910

Riswick

2018

The History of the Family

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Child survival depends on the allocation of resources within the household. The size and composition of the sibling set influences parental division of resources and can in turn affect survival chances.In spite of recent advances in research on sibling effects, previous studies have often used the resource dilution hypothesis, which neglects the specific historical context which shapes household structure and organisation. This study therefore focuses specifically on the variation in historical context by examining sibling effects on infant and child mortality in three regions of the Netherlands in the period 1863-1910. It does so by connecting the gendered and the conditional resource-dilution model with each other as a conceptual framework. Changing household composition is taken into account by using longitudinal data from the Historical Sample of the Netherlands, time-varying variables and Cox proportional-hazard models to study sibling size and composition. The results show that the number and gender of siblings play an important role in determining child mortality, but are less significant in determining infant mortality. The number of same-sex siblings has a negative impact on boys' survival chances in the Netherlands, which suggests that after the age of one, boys experienced more competition from their brothers. The reason for this could be their assigned roles within the household and on the family farm. A negative influence of the number of sisters is only found for child mortality chances for girls in the nuclear northwest family region. Here, fewer children were needed to work inside or outside the household, and girls and boys may even have been interchangeable. The results underscore the importance of looking at the interaction between the specific historical context and gender when trying to understand how sibship size and composition influenced children's mortality risks and shaped inequality within the household. ARTICLE HISTORY

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Section: Results: Cox Proportional-hazard Modelssupporting

confidence: 59%

Section: Data Measurement and Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing the conditional resource-dilution hypothesis: the impact of sibship size and composition on infant and child mortality in the Netherlands, 1863–1910

Riswick

2018

The History of the Family

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“…However, number of offspring is associated with short birth intervals and parental ageing, which are known to affect offspring survival (Dewey & Cohen, 2007;Gavrilov & Gavrilova, 2000;Kozuki et al, 2013;Xie et al, 2018). Giving multiple births in rapid succession can deplete a woman, due to increased exposure to stress, additional energy requirements, and having less time to recover (Engelen & Wolf, 2011;Winkvist, Rasmussen & Habicht, 1992). Gestation and childbirth take their toll on the female body, which can only recover with time and adequate nourishment.…”

Section: Familial Fertility Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Due to the high mutation load, both can be detrimental to the health of their children and shorten their lifespan (Gavrilov & Gavrilova, 2000;Xie et al, 2018). Possibly as a result, later born children seem to show higher mortality rates (Barclay & Kolk, 2015;Engelen & Wolf, 2011;Hin, Ogórek & Hedefalk, 2016;Smith et al, 2014;Sommerseth, 2018;.…”

Section: Familial Fertility Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…the family farm, smithy, bakery, or store. Earlier born siblings are known to have lower mortality rates (Barclay & Kolk, 2015;Engelen & Wolf, 2011;Hin, Ogórek & Hedefalk, 2016;Smith et al, 2014;Sommerseth, 2018;, but it is not known whether this is caused by maternal depletion, resource competition, or selective parental investment.…”

Section: Shared Socioeconomic Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Intergenerational transmission of longevity is not affected by other familial factors: Evidence from 16,905 Dutch families from Zeeland, 1812-1962

Mourits

Berg

Rodríguez-Girondo

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Studies have shown that long-lived individuals seem to pass their survival advantage on to their offspring. Offspring of long-lived parents had a lifelong survival advantage over individuals without long-lived parents, making them more likely to become long-lived themselves. We test whether the survival advantage enjoyed by offspring of long-lived individuals is explained by environmental factors. 101,577 individuals from 16,905 families in the 1812-1886 Zeeland cohort were followed over time.To prevent that certain families were overrepresented in our data, disjoint family trees were selected. Offspring was included if the age at death of both parents was known. Our analyses show that multiple familial resources are associated with survival within the first 5 years of life, with stronger maternal than paternal effects. However, between ages 5 and 100 both parents contribute equally to offspring's survival chances. After age 5, offspring of long-lived fathers and long-lived mothers had a 16-19% lower chance of dying at any given point in time than individuals without long-lived parents. This survival advantage is most likely genetic in nature, as it could not be explained by other, tested familial resources and is transmitted equally by fathers and mothers.

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Maternal care in wild toque macaques (Macaca sinica) involves prolonged lactation and interbirth intervals as adaptations to reduce maternal depletion and infant mortality in harsh environments

Dittus,

Baker

2023

American J Primatol

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Weaning age in primates has been challenging to measure and new methods, involving molecular biomarkers in feces, tissue, or teeth have contributed to a solution. Here, we used a direct approach by briefly anesthetizing 442 female toque macaques (Macaca sinica) of Sri Lanka (over a 17‐year period) and manually testing their mammary tissue for the presence or absence of milk. Milk tests were related to known offspring ages and maternal care behaviors and indicated that older infants suckled milk well past the weaning age of 7 months that is often reported for food‐provisioned primates. Mothers strongly rejected their infants' nursing attempts in two phases, the first at 7 months as an honest signal “giving notice” promoting a shift to greater independence from milk to solid food, and when “shutting down” at final weaning after 12–18 months. The shift to supplementary lactation coincided also with the cessation of mothers carrying their infants and a resumption of cycling. All infants up to 7.2 months suckled milk, 91% of them did up to 18 months, this continued for 42% of infants beyond 18 months, and normally none received milk after 22 months. Lactation extended into 2.2% of cycling and 10.7% of pregnant females (up to 50% of gestation). The interbirth interval was prolonged by factors predicted to draw on female metabolic energy reserves and included the duration of lactation, growth among primiparas, and dietary limitations. The last also increased menarche. Females offset the metabolic costs of lactation with increased foraging and catabolism, but infants died when lactation costs seemingly compromised maternal condition. The prolonged lactation and slowed reproduction are considered adaptations to promote infant survival and growth in an environment where the natural food supply limits population growth and competition for food and water impacts the mortality of the youngest the most.

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10. Maternal depletion and infant mortality

Cited by 5 publications

References 0 publications

Testing the conditional resource-dilution hypothesis: the impact of sibship size and composition on infant and child mortality in the Netherlands, 1863–1910

Testing the conditional resource-dilution hypothesis: the impact of sibship size and composition on infant and child mortality in the Netherlands, 1863–1910

Intergenerational transmission of longevity is not affected by other familial factors: Evidence from 16,905 Dutch families from Zeeland, 1812-1962

Maternal care in wild toque macaques (Macaca sinica) involves prolonged lactation and interbirth intervals as adaptations to reduce maternal depletion and infant mortality in harsh environments

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