In historical populations, female death rates usually exceeded male death rates during the reproductive ages. The most obvious cause of this difference is deaths resulting from childbirth. Parish registers show that maternal mortality in pre-industrial England (1650-1800) averaged 10 per 1,000 births – or 1.0 percent, 50 times higher than today. Childbearing dramatically increased the… Continue reading New Insights on Historic Causes of Maternal Deaths