Synonyms
Definition
Examination of cultural provisions of childcare suggests that the presence of female alloparents including maternal relatives, friends, and older siblings result in higher survival rates.
Introduction
In comparison to animals, newly born human babies are entirely dependent on their caregivers and need sensitive care and attention to survive. In most cultures, the necessary care and attention are provided by mothers and perhaps that is why, when a mother dies, the probability of infant surviving becomes slim, unless the caregiver is replaced by another sensitive human being (Brittain 1992). The positive correlation between maternal and infant mortality is quite evident in Scandinavian countries with the lowest maternal and infant mortality rates and African countries with the highest maternal and infant mortality rates (World Bank 2018). Citizens of countries with very high maternal and infant mortality rates face the biggest...
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Saxena, M., Burch, R.L. (2020). Higher Survival with Older Siblings. In: Shackelford, T., Weekes-Shackelford, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Evolutionary Psychological Science. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-16999-6_1164-1
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