Consanguinity and recurrence risk of stillbirth and infant death

Objectives. The aim of this study was to estimate the recurrence risk for s tillbirth and infant death and compare results for offspring of first-cousi n parents with results for offspring of unrelated parents. Methods. The study population consisted of all single births with a previou s sibling born in Norway between 1967 and 1994. Altogether; 629 888 births were to unrelated parents, and 3466 births were to parents who were first c ousins. The risk of stillbirth and infant death was estimated for subsequen t siblings contingent on parental consanguinity and survival of the previou s sibling. Results. For unrelated parents, the risk of early death (stillbirth plus in fant death) for the subsequent sibling was 17 of 1000 if the previous child survived and 67 of 1000 if the previous child died before 1 year of age. F or parents who were first cousins, the risk of early death for the subseque nt sibling was 29 of 1000 if the previous child survived and 116 of 1000 if the previous child died. Conclusions. The risk of recurrence of stillbirth and infant death is highe r for offspring of first-cousin parents compared with offspring of unrelate d parents.