СМРТНОСТ ЖЕНА НА ПОРОЂАЈУ У СТАТИСТИЦИ МОРТАЛИТЕТА СРБИЈЕ 1888–1910.
MATERNAL MORTALITY AT CHILDBIRTH IN THE MORTALITY STATISTICS OF SERBIA 1888–1910

Summary/Abstract: According to the data of official statistics, the number of women in Serbia who died at childbirth between 1888 and 1910 ranged between 433 and 602 per year; in the total number of women who died, the share of women who died during childbirth was, on average, 17.3‰. In the context of the total number of women giving birth, the average rate of deaths during childbirth was 5.2‰. If the observed chronological period is divided into two parts, a slight decrease in the mortality of women during childbirth is noticeable in the second part of the period, both in relation to the total number of female deaths and in relation to the total number of women giving birth. The share of female mortality during childbirth in total female mortality was twice as high in urban than in rural areas, with a tendency to decrease in both areas. Differences also existed in relation to the total number of women giving birth – in the first decade of the 20th century, the share of deaths during childbirth in the total number of women giving birth was 3.1‰ in urban areas, compared to 5‰ in rural areas. At the regional level, differences in female mortality during childbirth largely coincide with differences in other demographic parameters that were registered in the late 19th and the early 20th century; the highest rates of female mortality during childbirth were recorded in southwestern Serbia, and the lowest in the central and southeastern parts of the country. A specific insight into the mortality of women at childbirth is provided according to their distribution by age group. In relation to the total number of women giving birth, the lowest (relative) mortality during childbirth was registered in the age group in which there were the most women giving birth – between 26 and 30 years old. The highest risk of death was in the group of women who gave birth over 35 years of age, while women who gave birth under the age of 21 were more susceptible to death in childbirth than those between the ages of 21 and 30, which is usually linked to the insufficient physical development of the youngest women who gave birth in that age group. Female mortality during childbirth is the most visible, but not the only segment of female mortality in the fertile period. A specific insight into the mortality of women in that stage of life is provided by a comparison with the mortality of men: during the entire fertile period, the mortality of women was higher than the mortality of men, and the biggest difference between them was at the beginning of the reproductive period, during the first years of married life, when the mortality of women was almost twice as high as the mortality of men. Lack of medical care during pregnancy and in the postpartum period, frequent pregnancies, exposure to heavy physical work, poor nutrition and other reasons stemming from the general social circumstances of that era are cited as the reasons for the excess mortality of the female sex at that age. Entering the fertile phase of life for women carried a greater risk of death than the birth mortality statistics indicate.

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