Late reproduction behaviour in Sardinia: spatial analysis suggests local aptitude towards reproductive longevity

Maternal longevity is associated with lower infant mortality

“…According to the main literature (Nault, Desjardins, and Legare 1990;Dollberg et al 1996;Joseph et al 2005), infant mortality increases with the number of siblings, although the first child tends to exhibit a higher infant mortality than succeeding children. By contrast, maternal age at birth has no significant protective effect on infant mortality, as Astolfi et al (2009) have pointed out in analyzing more recent Sardinian data. Meanwhile, a previous analysis of the association between longevity and fertility (Caselli et al 2013) has found, in line with other studies, that in Sardinia, having the last child at advanced ages produced a protective effect on the mother's survival (Hamilton 1966;Charlesworth and Charlesworth 1980;Kirkwood and Rose 1991;Perls, Albert, and Fretts 1997;Cooper and Sandler 1998;Müller et al 2002;McArdle et al 2006).…”

“…They suggested an association between the propensity to marry within the same familial group and the aptitude for late and successful maternity. Other Sardinian genetic traits may explain the underlying association, such as the abnormal frequencies of the Y chromosome and mtDNA (Cavalli-Sforza et al 1994;Carru et al 2003;Pes et al 2004;Astolfi et al 2009) or some mutations of the genetic makeup partially determined by endemic malaria in the past (Modiano et al 1986;Caglia et al 1997). The AkeA researchers found that the gene pool in the Sardinians of the particularly remote mountainous region is relatively small (Carru et al 2003;Pes et al 2004).…”

“…In order to evaluate possible protective genetic factors stemming from the territorial level, Astolfi et al (2009) estimated, for the period 1850-1969, the consanguinity level by the percentage of consanguineous marriages and the average inbreeding coefficients in Sardinia (Moroni et al 1972, Cavalli-Sforza et al 2004). Both estimates presented higher values in internal/mountainous areas, where the presence of centenarians was higher .…”

“…Previous studies of Sardinian women of reproductive age showed that in the areas of central-eastern Sardinia with a high prevalence of centenarians, late maternity is relatively common and perinatal and infant mortality is relatively low Contini et al 1989;Cavalli-Sforza et al 1994). Furthermore, using data from the last decades of the 20th century, it was found that the maternal age of Sardinian women does not significantly affect neonatal and infant mortality (Astolfi et al 2009;. So far, to our knowledge, there has been no study of the relationship between a woman's longevity and infant mortality in her children.…”

“…For women, it is well known that childbearing and neonatal mortality are generally affected by the mother's age at birth or by the birth order of the child (Nault, Desjardins, and Legare 1990;Dollberg et al 1996;Astolfi, Ulizzi, and Zonta 2002;Joseph et al 2005;Astolfi et al 2009;. Previous studies of Sardinian women of reproductive age showed that in the areas of central-eastern Sardinia with a high prevalence of centenarians, late maternity is relatively common and perinatal and infant mortality is relatively low Contini et al 1989;Cavalli-Sforza et al 1994).…”