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A new approach to assessing the effect of birth order on the outcome of pregnancy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

P. L. Yudkin  and
M. Baras
P. L. Yudkin
Affiliation:
Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Jerusalem
M. Baras
Affiliation:
Department of Medical Ecology, Hebrew University-Hadassah Medical School, Jerusalem
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Summary

A new approach is suggested for assessing the relationship between birth order and pregnancy risk. Population data are used to estimate the risk of a poor pregnancy outcome after different reproductive histories. The risk of a poor outcome at the first pregnancy appears to be twice that at subsequent pregnancies, but no change in risk is observed between the second and fifth birth orders. If there has been a previous poor pregnancy outcome, the risk of another is increased four-fold.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 15 , Issue 3 , July 1983 , pp. 307 - 316
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1983

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