Exploring the birth intervals of a population from the past. Relations between conception month, nutrition and climate. Alghero (Italy) 1866-1935.

In the period studied (1866-1935), most of the population of Alghero (Sardinia, Italy) did not control fertility and tried to maximize reproductive capacity to the limit of the biological threshold. In fact, Sardinia was, before the most recent fertility drop, the Italian region with the highest levels of legitimate fertility (Livi Bacci, 1977). In this context, from a rich database of individual biographies, it is possible to verify whether the first months of intrauterine life could influence the reproductive capacity of local women. In particular, through risk models, the influence of the month of conception and the exogenous factors associated with it, such as climate, temperature and diet, on the widening or narrowing of intervals between births will be evaluated, as well as the appearance of reproductive difficulties.