International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics

The death of a child could boost the likelihood of the mother dying later on, a new study has revealed.

According to research by the Rochester Institute of Technology and the University of Notre Dame, a mother is 300 per cent more likely to pass away in the 24 months following a child's death, WNDU-TV reports.

Dr William Evans, an economist at Notre Dame, acknowledged that mortality rates are fairly low because the women involved are quite young.

Nevertheless, he said this still represents a big increase "in percentage terms".

"We found fairly large increases in mortality – much larger than you would find for the death of a spouse," he commented.

Dr Evans put this down to the fact the death of a child can be very traumatic, which in turn affects the health of the mother.

The research was based on statistics in the US for 20 to 50-year-old mothers over a nine-year period.

Posted by Carla Mackenzie