bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Fertility and family planning in China: an analysis of provincial patterns
Authors: Poston Dudley L. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper examines patterns of fertility and family planning in China, particularly by an analysis of recently available provincial data for the period around 1981. Fertility rates in the more urban and developed parts of China are very low, approximating those of countries with the lowest fertility rates in the world. Family planning in these areas is also very common and widespread. The more rural and interior areas of China, however, are characterized by much higher fertility rates and by much lower family planning rates. Family planning variables are very good predictors of provincial fertility.
Marital fertility in polygynous unions in Nigeria
Authors: Adewuyi Alfred A. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryUsing data from the Nigerian Fertility Survey of 1981–82, the effect of polygyny on fertility is examined, by age cohort, for four regions of the country. Comparison of mean completed and current fertility suggests that changes in reproductive behaviour are taking place in Nigeria, restricting the fertility of women in polygynous unions, especially of younger women, when socioeconomic factors are taken into account.
Lactation and post-partum amenorrhoea: a study based on data from three Norwegian cities 1860–1964
Authors: Liestøl Knut , Rosenberg Margit , Walløe Lars 
Published: July 2008

SummaryMedical records from maternity clinics in three Norwegian cities, Oslo, Bergen and Trondheim, have been used to study the relationship between lactation and post-partum amenorrhoea during the period 1860–1964. Resumption of menses after a period of post-partum amenorrhoea has been examined separately during lactation, after cessation of lactation, and in the absence of lactation, in 5250 cases. During ongoing lactation the median duration of post-partum amenorrhoea was found by survival analysis to be 12 months for women who had given birth before 1900 and 6 months for women who had given birth after 1900. In a Cox regression analysis, age of menarche and parity were found to influence the duration of post-partum amenorrhoea, in addition to the child's birth year. With a later age of menarche there was longer amenorrhoea, and primiparae resumed menses earlier than multiparae. After cessation of breast-feeding the median duration of amenorrhoea was 1 month, the only variable significantly influencing it being the age of menarche, a younger age showing a shorter duration. In the absence of lactation the survivor function started to decline after 3–4 weeks, and had a half-life of 2 months.None of the variables indicating the woman's social condition seemed to influence the duration of amenorrhoea. The decline in the duration of post-partum amenorrhoea during ongoing lactation from 1860 until today is therefore probably caused by a changed breast-feeding pattern rather than by improved nutrition for women giving birth.
Incidence of hysterectomy and tubal ligation in public hospitals in South Australia, 1980–82
Authors: Yusuf Farhat , Briggs Dora K. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper presents information on the incidence of hysterectomy and tubal ligation in South Australia in the period 1980–82, and on the age, marital status and ethnicity of women undergoing these procedures in public hospitals during the period. A typical woman undergoing one of these procedures was married or previously married and in her mid-40s for hysterectomy or mid-30s for tubal ligation. South Australian women had a lifetime chance of one in six of undergoing hysterectomy and of one in five of undergoing tubal ligation. The findings are consonant with the suggestion that increasing numbers of women are choosing forms of sterilization as means of contraception.
Nutrition, infant feeding and post-partum amenorrhoea in rural Bangladesh
Authors: Ford Kathleen , Huffman Sandra 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe duration of amenorrhoea among a group of chronically malnourished women in a rural area of Bangladesh is examined by application of multivariate hazard models with time-varying covariates, including the influence of maternal nutrition, seasonality and patterns of infant feeding. Both maternal weight at pregnancy termination and the pattern of infant feeding affected the length of post-partum amenorrhoea. Analyses focused on season of birth showed the importance of differences by education in infant feeding.
Weekly variation in work-output of pluckers in tea gardens in northern West Bengal
Authors: Roy Subrata K. , Majumder Partha P. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryData on daily work-output (kg of leaves plucked) of Oraon pluckers in tea gardens of Jalpaiguri district, West Bengal, India, are analysed. While on any particular day of the week there is no significant difference in work-output of males and females, there is a significant between-day variation in work-output for both sexes. Mean work-output steadily decreases as the week progresses, perhaps due to the cumulative effect of fatigue.
The third birth in Great Britain
Authors: Wright Robert E. , Ermisch John F. , Hinde P. R. Andrew , Joshi Heather E. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe relationship between female labour force participation, and other socioeconomic factors, and the probability of having a third birth is examined, using British data collected in the 1980 Women and Employment Survey, by hazard regression modelling with time-varying covariates. The results demonstrate the strong association between demographic factors, e.g. age at first birth and birth interval and subsequent fertility behaviour. Education appears to have little effect. Surprisingly, women who have spent a higher proportion of time as housewives have a lower risk of having a third birth. This finding is in sharp disagreement with the conventional expectation that cumulative labour force participation supports lower fertility. These findings are briefly compared with similar research carried out in Sweden.
A survey of contraception in five West European countries
Authors: Riphagen F. E. , Lehert P. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn 1984 and 1985, a survey was conducted of 7696 women aged 15–44 living in Italy, France, Great Britain, Spain and the Federal Republic of Germany. The aim of the study was to examine the use of contraceptive methods, the differences in contraceptive use, knowledge of fertility, communication about contraception, motives for choice and the perceptions held by women regarding contraceptive methods, particularly oral contraception. The results show important differences between the countries studied.
Recent trends in contraceptive sterilization in Flanders
Authors: Lodewijckx E. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryElective sterilization started to spread rather late in Flanders. Despite the sharp increase of this contraceptive method since the end of the 1970s, its frequency is still lower than in many neighbouring countries and much lower than in the US and Canada, mainly due to the lag in male sterilization. Further increase in contraceptive sterilization and a greater participation of men is expected in the near future.
Demographic components of seasonality of pregnancy
Authors: Kallan Jeffrey E. , Udry J. Richard 
Published: July 2008

SummaryPrevious studies of the seasonality of pregnancy and birth have typically been based on monthly numbers or proportions of pregnancies or births (i.e. their distribution throughout the year) without any explicit accounting of the size of the population actually at risk of pregnancy by month. From data on monthly populations at risk and monthly probabilities of pregnancy this paper determines the relative contribution of each component to the monthly distribution of pregnancies. The data come from the National Survey of Family Growth, Cycle III. While there is some seasonality in the size of the at-risk population, it contributes little to the overall monthly variation of pregnancy, which is determined mainly by seasonality of pregnancy probability (fecundability).
Nursing behaviour and its relation to duration of post-partum amenorrhoea in an Andean community
Authors: Vitzthum V. J. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryNuñoa is a high altitude rural Peruvian community characterized by socioeconomic stratification and differential access to the market economy. Nursing practices and the effects of nursing are also stratified; this translates into a risk of menses at 12 months post-partum nearly seven times greater in wealthier than in poorer women.Most nursing occurs in the morning, among those who practise on-demand breast-feeding. Nursing episodes are clustered into sessions; the amount of breast-feeding is regulated by varying the number of episodes per session rather than by changing the duration of suckling episodes or the frequency of sessions per hour. Thus, resumption of ovulation is not dependent on the variable spacing of nursing episodes or sessions. The components of nursing activity most likely to be responsible for variation in the duration of post-partum amenorrhoea in these nursing women are mean session duration and mean number of episodes per session.The mean duration of morning nursing sessions is negatively associated with infant's age, reflecting the greater reliance of younger children on breast-milk. The mean duration of afternoon nursing sessions is positively associated with mother's age, independent of infant's age, possibly reflecting maternal age-related variation in milk production capabilities. Baby minding by older daughters may also help to explain variation in afternoon nursing.
Age at first intercourse
Authors: Wielandt Hanne , Boldsen Jesper 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn 1984–85 a representative sample of 286 Danish women and 336 men aged 16–20 years were interviewed about their sexual debut. Seventy-four females (25·9%) and 101 males (30·1%) had not yet experienced sexual intercourse. A maximum likelihood estimation method was used to establish the age distribution at sexual debut. This takes into account knowledge of age at interview among the non-experienced respondents and of the few who did not report age at sexual debut. The median age at first sexual intercourse was close to 16·8 years for both females and males. This appeared to be a consequence of age at debut declining among women and remaining unchanged among males during the preceding 20 years.
Menarche, menopause and reproduction in the Kipsigis of Kenya
Authors: Mulder Monique Borgerhoff 
Published: July 2008

SummaryAmong the Kipsigis, a population of south-western Kenya who do not use contraception, age at menarche and age at last live birth could be determined for a cohort of post-menopausal women, through reference to clitoridectomy ceremonies that can easily be dated. While a woman's age at last live birth was strongly associated with the length of her reproductive lifespan, completed family size was better predicted by age at menarche. The demographic implications of variation in menarcheal age are discussed.
Son preference and child replacement in Bangladesh: a new look at the child survival hypothesis
Authors: Sufian A. J. M. , Johnson Nan E. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryBirth history data from women in the 1975–76 Bangladesh Fertility Survey were used to search for intentions to replace dead children. The median intervals between successive births of orders (i) and (i + 1) were not shorter when some siblings of orders below (i) had died. Nor was the median duration between the death of a child and the first posthumous birth shorter when the dead child was a boy or when it was survived by fewer than two brothers. The median intervals were generally shorter when the mother lived in an urban rather than a rural area but this difference was attributable only to the shorter duration of breast-feeding by urban women. These results disputed the notions that the timing of births was deliberately quicker to replace a dead child, that attempts at replacement were sex-selective, or that child replacement intentions were stronger in urban than in rural populations.
Biological influence of infant death on fertility
Authors: Chandran P. E. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis study examines the biological influence of infant death on subsequent fertility in three Asian countries—Indonesia, Nepal and Sri Lanka, comparing the birth interval between two consecutive births up to the sixth birth by survival status of the preceding infant among breast-feeding women not using contraception.There is consistent evidence of biological influence in each of the three countries. Infant death shortens birth intervals by up to 30%, though its influence varies between the countries.
Ethnic differentials in early childhood mortality in Nepal
Authors: Choe Minja Kim , Retherford Robert D. , Gubhaju Bhakta B. , Thapa Shyam 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThis paper investigates the association of early childhood mortality (between birth and second birthday) with ethnicity in Nepal, based on data from the 1976 Nepal Fertility Survey, which was part of the World Fertility Survey. The approach is through a series of hazard models, which incorporate ethnicity, year of birth, mother's illiteracy, father's illiteracy, rural-urban residence, region, sex, maternal age, survival of previous birth, previous birth interval, and breast-feeding as covariates. Ethnic differentials in early childhood mortality are not explained by the other socioeconomic and demographic covariates, except for a modest effect of illiteracy, but the remaining covariates explain a great deal of variability in early childhood mortality itself. Analysis using an improved specification of breast-feeding as an age-varying covariate indicates, on average, that breast-feeding, relative to not breast-feeding, reduces age-specific mortality risks during the first 2 years of life by 76%, a very large effect.
Men's attitudes about family planning in Dakar, Senegal
Authors: Posner Jill K. , Mbodji Fara 
Published: July 2008

SummaryA survey of men's behaviour and opinions with respect to family planning, undertaken in Dakar in 1986, shows that contrary to popular belief, acceptance of contraception at least for the purpose of spacing births is substantial, even among men from the most conservative backgrounds. Actual use of contraceptives varied considerably across occupations. Among functionaries and students, it ranges between 25 and 49%. Among the working class, prevalence is low, especially within marriage. Uncertainty about the position of Islam regarding fertility control is apparent even among the highly educated and is given as a reason for rejecting use of contraceptives.
Determinants of birth intervals in Sudan
Authors: Khalifa Mona A. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryUsing individual birth history data from the Sudan Fertility Survey, 1979, parity-related differences in fertility are demonstrated, as well as differences between socioeconomic groups. Rural women, women with no education and those married to uneducated husbands show rapid parity progression and its cumulative effects on fertility which are consistent over all birth intervals. Urban women, women with some education and those married to educated husbands, however, go rapidly through their second and third birth intervals and then more slowly at higher parities. A limitation of the study was the inability to control fully for the effects of breast-feeding and contraception.There is evidence for a reduction in high parity births,' starting in the 1970s.
The seasonality of births in Canada
Authors: Halli S. S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryEarlier studies on the seasonality of births indicate that a major peak occurs in August and September and a minor peak in January and February. This study uses the 1984 Canadian Fertility Survey data on reproductive history to examine birth and pregnancy seasonalities, and shows that the ‘worst’ months for births are January and February and the ‘best’ months are March, April and May. There is no systematic pattern in the seasonality of pregnancies, possibly because effective birth control allows couples to plan the timing of births.
Menstrual characteristics of mothers of twins
Authors: Bønnelykke Birgitte 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe menarcheal age and frequency of menstrual disorders in mothers of dizygotic (DZ) and monozygotic (MZ) twins born in Denmark in 1984 or 1985 were compared with a control sample of mothers of singleton infants born in the same period. Compared to control mothers, mothers of DZ twins had a lower menarcheal age and a lower frequency of menstrual irregularities—menstrual cycles exceeding 5 weeks duration, varying length of menstrual cycles and episodes of menostasia. Mothers of MZ twins had a higher frequency of intermenstrual bleeding compared to mothers of singletons. All results were adjusted for maternal age and parity. The findings are relevant to the interpretation of aetiological factors leading to twin births and support the hypothesis of differences in sex hormone activity of the mothers of DZ twins in comparison with other women.
Breast-feeding and infant mortality in Norway 1860–1930
Authors: Rosenberg Margit 
Published: July 2008

SummaryUsing medical records from maternity clinics in the two Norwegian cities Oslo and Bergen, the effect of lactation on infant mortality during the period 1860–1930 is examined, comparing those who were and were not breastfed in a total of about 6900 live born infants. The mortality of children not breast-fed was nearly three times that of those who were breast fed. In a Cox regression analysis the infant's year of birth and the mother's marital status were found to influence mortality in addition to lactation. Children born to unmarried mothers experienced a mortality about twice that of those born to married mothers, both during on-going lactation and in the absence of lactation, up to about 1915. Children born in Oslo had a slightly higher mortality than those born in Bergen.The duration of lactation was found to have a continuing protective effect on infant survival after weaning—the longer the duration, the lower the mortality after cessation of lactation.
Fertility on the US–Mexico border
Authors: Warren Charles W. , Monteith Richard S. , Johnson J. Timothy 
Published: July 2008

SummaryUsing Bongaarts' model, the relative importance of the proximate determinants of fertility is explored in five populations on the US–Mexico border. For the groups closest to natural fertility (the two Mexican groups), lactation, use of contraception, and marriage all were moderately important in terms of their direct effect on fertility. For the group with lowest fertility (Anglo-American), contraceptive use was an important factor inhibiting fertility; marriage was important but not nearly as important as contraceptive use. For the two US Mexican-American groups, contraceptive use was an important intermediate variable, not as important as for Anglo-Americans, but more important than it was for the two populations in Mexico. The proportion married was a moderately important factor for the Mexican-American groups. For these five populations the principal differences in fertility rates result from substantial differences in the use of effective contraception. Bongaarts' model proved very useful as an analytical framework in this study.
Fertility change in Costa Rica 1960–84: analysis of retrospective lifetime reproductive histories
Authors: Rosero-Bixby Luis , Oberle Mark W. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryLifetime reproductive histories of a 1984–85 nationally representative sample of 870 women aged 25–59 years provided data to describe the evolution of fertility, contraception, breast-feeding, and natural fecundability in Costa Rica between 1960 and 1984. The contraceptive prevalence rate increased from 23% in 1965 to 58% in 1975 and 66% in 1984. Duration of breast-feeding was stable during the 1960s, decreased in the early 1970s, and increased after about 1976. Fecundability among women who did not practise contraception was lower than expected and declined between 1960 and 1975, probably because of selection effects. Despite a high consistency between estimations from the reproductive histories and other sources of data, some suggestion of omissions of short periods of contraceptive use in the distant past was detected. The survey may have reduced recall errors by using a calendar that summarizes major life events together. The analysis demonstrated the feasibility and usefulness of asking for lifetime reproductive histories in fertility surveys in developing countries.
Are preterm black infants larger than preterm white infants, or are they more misclassified?
Authors: Suthutvoravut Somsak , Hogue Carol J. R. , Guyer Bernard , Anderka Marlene , Oberle Mark W. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn birth certificate data for Massachusetts resident births from 1978 to 1982, 12–27% of births purportedly under 31 weeks of gestation were probably misclassified, i.e. had birthweight ≥2500g. Correcting for maldistribution of births removed 34% and 23%, respectively, of black and white births with reported gestational ages <36 weeks but with implausible weights. Percentages of unknown and incomplete reports of last menstrual period were also significantly higher for blacks. After adjustment, preterm black infants weighed less than whites at each gestational age. The proportion of infants <2500g born at term (≥37 weeks gestation) was higher (although not significantly) among blacks. These findings are consistent with hypotheses that low socioeconomic status negatively affects the rate of intrauterine growth.
Seasonality of births and family characteristics in a Spanish population
Authors: Fuster V. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryThe seasonality of births in the period 1871–1977 is studied in a rural north-western Spanish population. Based on a total sample of 11,695 birth registrations, temporal variation is analysed. For siblings, according to family reconstitution, the total family size, the legitimacy of the child, and birth order are considered. A coefficient of birth month dispersion is defined and estimated for each family. Intra-family variation is related to inter-family coefficients in order to determine whether the local seasonal pattern of births may be partly explained by family characteristics.
Attitudes towards contraceptive implants and injectables among present and former users in Singapore
Authors: Singh K. , Viegas O. A. C. , Ratnam S. S. 
Published: July 2008

SummaryIn a comparison of present and past users of contraceptive implants (Norplant) or injectables (DMPA) and discontinuers of Norplant or DMPA, information concerning the women's knowledge and perception of, and attitude to, implants and injectable contraceptives, was studied. The long duration of action (5 years) of implants was perceived positively by all groups as compared to the shorter 3-month duration of injectables, though this was seen as an advantage over the pill. It appears that the Norplant system has potential for wider use in Singapore in the future.
Reproductive pattern among women in 19th century Sweden
Authors: Högberg Ulf , Åkerman Sune 
Published: July 2008

SummaryAmong the married female population in rural areas of 19th century Sweden infertility and subfertility were found in 7·5% and 6·1% respectively with increasing incidence during the latter half of the century. In relation to the age group 20–24, fecundity declined by 42% and 92% in the age groups 35–39 and 40–45 respectively. One-third of married women died before age 50. Re-marriages and step-parents were common. Less than half of the married women brought up the majority of the children in the community.