Fertility Trajectories of Mothers in Italy: On the Interrelation of Adverse Reproductive Experiences and Second Births

Nadja Milewski , Federal Institute for Population Research
Jasmin Passet-Wittig, Bundesinstitut für Bevölkerungsforschung (BiB)
Livia Elisa Ortensi, University of Bologna
Alessandra Minello, University of Padova

Background: The risk of pregnancy loss and of infertility is growing as women’s age at birth keeps increasing in Europe. While research on infertility and its interrelation with fertility has been growing for about a decade, only little is known about causes, patterns and consequences of pregnancy loss. We apply the life-course perspective to reproductive trajectories and perceive infertility, miscarriage, and abortion as crises, which may disrupt subsequent fertility behavior. Our research question is: What are the patterns of adverse reproductive experiences and second births among mothers? Data: We use data from the Obstetric Violence Survey, carried out in Italy in 2023. The survey centers on women who ever had a child, who were aged 25-47 at the time of the survey (n=1981). Methods: We estimate the transition to a second birth applying event history models. Main explanatory variables are whether the women had a miscarriage prior to or after their first birth, and whether the first child was conceived using ART, indicating previous fertility problems. Findings: About 50% of the women had a second birth until the first child was six years old. The respondents, who had their first child using ART, had significantly lower transition rates compared to those with natural conception. Having a miscarriage prior to first birth made no difference in the full sample, but varied by age at first birth. Conclusion: The results suggest that adverse reproductive experiences have a rather long-term impact even beyond a subsequent childbirth and deserve more attention in fertility research.

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 Presented in Session P2. Families, Fertility, and the Life Course 2