Abstract
Summary The influence of number and date of pregnancies, births, and spontaneous and induced abortions on body shape, age at menopause and menopausal symptoms have been studied for 110 postmenopausal Viennese women. A significant correlation between fertility and age at menopause was not found, but several menopausal symptoms showed statistically significant correlations with fertility. With a higher number of pregnancies the individual symptoms became more severe.