Granny Dearest: Kids are at risk when mom is gone

Infant mortality rates affected when grandma is in charge. It sounds straight out of a Brothers Grimm tale, but for German babies born in rural communities in the 18th and 19th centuries, having a paternal grandmother was downright dangerous. In a study examining 3,500 birth and death records between 1720 and 1874, infants with a living paternal grandmother were twice as likely to die in their first month.

By PT Staff, published on January 01, 2003

It sounds straight out of a Brothers Grimm tale, but for German babies born in rural communities in the 18th and 19th centuries, having a paternal grandmother was downright dangerous. In a study examining 3,500 birth and death records between 1720 and 1874, infants with a living paternal grandmother were twice as likely to die in their first month. But if Mom's mom was around, survival rates soared by 79 percent in the first six months of life.

"Paternal grandmothers may have been suspicious of the paternity of the grandchild," says Jan Beise, Ph.D., of the Max Planck Institute in Rostock, Germany, and co-author of the study, which was published in Demographic Research.

Uncertainty about paternity would make these women less likely to aid their pregnant daughters-in-law. Less help meant worse prenatal conditions for babies and greater risk of early death.

Maternal grandmothers would have been less concerned about paternity and more likely to provide assistance and support.