Expectations after expecting: the impact of first birth on the fertility expectations of one child women in the USA and UK

Expectations for having children are hypothesised to be predominantly influenced by societal family norms at young ages, and are adjusted during the life course in response to changing circumstances and new information. The onset of parenthood is likely to be a key event that affects expectations. This paper explores whether the expectations of women who have only one child (one child women) change in the five years before and after first birth, using the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1979 (USA) and Understanding Society (UK). We aim to determine whether one child women are distinct in their expectations from women who go on to higher parities even before first birth, and whether the event of first birth is a catalyst for changing expectations. Our results show that, in both contexts, one child women expect closer to two children prior to, compared to after, first birth, when the trajectory declines more steeply towards one. One child women also expect fewer than higher parity mothers by the time of first birth. Our findings suggest that although one child women already expect fewer children compared to other mothers prior to first birth, their expectations are particularly affected by the onset of parenthood.

Pre- and Postoperative Evaluation of Operated Myoma Uteri Patients: a 5-Year Tertiary Care Experience

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate the pre- and postoperative outcomes of myomas operated in a tertiary clinic. Method: We retrospectively evaluated data from a total of 378 cases operated for myomas between January 2014 and December 2018 in the Dicle University Medical Faculty Obstetrics and Gynecology Clinic. Results: There were 169 cases of abdominal myomectomy (44.7%), 156 cases of total abdominal hysterectomy (41.3%), 15 cases of laparoscopic myomectomy (4%), 13 cases of total laparoscopic hysterectomy (3.4%), 12 cases of myomectomy during cesarean delivery (3.2%), 9 cases of hysteroscopic myomectomy (2.4%), and 4 cases of vaginal myomectomy (1.1%). Pathology results revealed 341 cases of leiomyoma (88.2%), 32 cases of concomitant leiomyoma and adenomyosis (8.4%), and 13 cases of STUMP (3.3%). There were 5 cases of intraoperative bowel injury, 1 case of bladder injury, and 1 case of postoperative wound infection. Conclusion: Myomas can be surgically treated with satisfactory outcomes and low complication rates. The preferred surgical treatment will majorly depend on the patient's fertility expectations.

Expectations about Fertility and Field of Study among Adolescents: A Case of Self-selection?

In recent studies on the association between education and fertility, increased attention has been paid to the field of study. Women who studied in traditionally more “feminine” fields, like care, teaching, and health, were found to have their children earlier and to have more children than other women. A point of debate in this literature is on the causal direction of this relationship. Does the field of study change the attitudes towards family formation, or do young adults with stronger family-life attitudes self-select into educational fields that emphasize care, teaching, and health? Or do both field of study preferences and family-life attitudes arise before actual choices in these domains are made?We contribute to this debate by examining the relationship between fertility expectations and expected fields of study and occupation among 14-17 year-old adolescents. We use data collected in 2005 from 1500 Dutch adolescents and Structural Equation Modelling (SEM) to examine the associations between expected field of study and occupation and fertility expectations. Our results show that expectations concerning fertility and field of study are already interrelated during secondary education. Both female and male adolescents who expect to pursue studies in fields that focus on care and social interaction (like health care, teaching etc.) are less likely to expect to remain childless. This holds equally for girls and boys. In addition, girls who more strongly aspire to an occupation in which communication skills are important also expect to have more children. We did not find any relationship between expectations of pursuing a communicative field of study and occupation and expectations of earlier parenthood.In addition, among boys, we find that the greater their expectation of opting for an economics, a technical, or a communicative field of study, the less likely they were to expect to remain childless. Boys who expected to study in the economic field also expect to have their first child earlier, but boys expecting to pursue a technical course of studies expect to enter parenthood later. We also found that those who expect to pursue cultural studies are more likely to have a preference for no children, or if they do want children, to have them later in life.Overall, our findings suggest that the processes of elective affinity between the communicative fields of study and work on the one hand and fertility on the other hand are more or less comparable for boys and girls. With respect to the other domains, we find, apart from the gender differences in the relation between fields of study and childlessness, hardly or no gender differences in the expected timing of parenthood and the number of children. The genders do differ in their level of preference for communicative and economics-related fields of study and occupation, but if they do have the same preference, the association with fertility expectations is more or less similar.