Abstract

A retrospective study was conducted on prenatal and postnatal mortality among the populations of seven cities in the Pakistani province of Punjab. Consanguineous marriages were strongly favoured and the coefficients of inbreeding (F) for the present generation in each locality ranged from 0.0236 to 0.0286. There was a highly significant relationship between the degree of inbreeding and mortality, with most consanguinity related deaths reported in the neonatal, infantile, and childhood periods. The findings strongly suggest that consanguinity may play a major role in the high rates of postnatal mortality observed in Pakistani communities now resident in the United Kingdom.