Social Differences in Maternal Mortality in Zeeland 1812–1913
(2025) In Historical Life Course Studies 15.- Abstract
- Using population reconstructions from linked civil certificates for the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, for the period 1812–1913, I study the social gradient in maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is defined as deaths in the first 42 days after the birth of a child. Among the women — mother to at least one child and followed between age 20 and 45 — maternal mortality constitutes about one third of the total number of observed deaths. Maternal mortality is higher for upper class women in early 19th century Zeeland than for unskilled laborers. By the early 20th century, maternal mortality had become an uncommon event and social differences in its likelihood negligible. A comparison of the social gradient in maternal mortality to the... (More)
- Using population reconstructions from linked civil certificates for the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, for the period 1812–1913, I study the social gradient in maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is defined as deaths in the first 42 days after the birth of a child. Among the women — mother to at least one child and followed between age 20 and 45 — maternal mortality constitutes about one third of the total number of observed deaths. Maternal mortality is higher for upper class women in early 19th century Zeeland than for unskilled laborers. By the early 20th century, maternal mortality had become an uncommon event and social differences in its likelihood negligible. A comparison of the social gradient in maternal mortality to the social gradient in all mortality in the reproductive ages (age 20-45) in this period shows that the reverse social gradient in mortality is limited to maternal mortality — it is not found for all women's deaths in this period of life. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/9400acc0-ecf1-4aac-977e-3136642a272a
- author
- van Dijk, Ingrid Kirsten LU
- organization
- publishing date
- 2025-09-01
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Maternal mortality, social gradient, Cause of Death
- in
- Historical Life Course Studies
- volume
- 15
- publisher
- European Historical Population Samples Network
- ISSN
- 2352-6343
- DOI
- 10.51964/hlcs23091
- project
- Relative Health: Long-Run Inequalities in Health and Survival Between Families and Across Generations
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- 9400acc0-ecf1-4aac-977e-3136642a272a
- date added to LUP
- 2025-09-10 10:28:27
- date last changed
- 2025-09-10 11:19:50
@article{9400acc0-ecf1-4aac-977e-3136642a272a,
abstract = {{Using population reconstructions from linked civil certificates for the province of Zeeland, the Netherlands, for the period 1812–1913, I study the social gradient in maternal mortality. Maternal mortality is defined as deaths in the first 42 days after the birth of a child. Among the women — mother to at least one child and followed between age 20 and 45 — maternal mortality constitutes about one third of the total number of observed deaths. Maternal mortality is higher for upper class women in early 19th century Zeeland than for unskilled laborers. By the early 20th century, maternal mortality had become an uncommon event and social differences in its likelihood negligible. A comparison of the social gradient in maternal mortality to the social gradient in all mortality in the reproductive ages (age 20-45) in this period shows that the reverse social gradient in mortality is limited to maternal mortality — it is not found for all women's deaths in this period of life.}},
author = {{van Dijk, Ingrid Kirsten}},
issn = {{2352-6343}},
keywords = {{Maternal mortality; social gradient; Cause of Death}},
language = {{eng}},
month = {{09}},
publisher = {{European Historical Population Samples Network}},
series = {{Historical Life Course Studies}},
title = {{Social Differences in Maternal Mortality in Zeeland 1812–1913}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.51964/hlcs23091}},
doi = {{10.51964/hlcs23091}},
volume = {{15}},
year = {{2025}},
}