Maternal bereavement: The heightened mortality of mothers after the death of a child

Using a 9-year follow-up of 69,224 mothers aged 20-50 from the National Longitudinal Mortality Survey, we investigate whether there is heightened mortality of mothers after the death of a child. Results from Cox proportional hazard models indicate that the death of a child produces a statistically significant hazard ratio of 2.3. There is suggestive evidence that the heightened mortality is concentrated in the first two years after the death of a child. We find no difference in results based on mother's education or marital status, family size, the child's cause of death or the gender of the child. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.