Effect of male child preference on the decision making of women in choosing contraception

Background: Pressures resulting from unrestrained human population growth put demands on the natural world that can overwhelm any efforts to achieve a sustainable future. If we are to halt the destruction of our environment, we must accept limits to that growth. In this hospital based study, we aim to study the factors that influence the choice of contraception. Purpose of this study is to analyze the contraceptive behavior which is a product of many determinants such as age, religion, education, parity, fertility, child care support, economic and social circumstances, motivation, communication and the perception of reliability and safety of a chosen method thereby ensuring better health for the mother and better care and upbringing of children.Methods: The present study entitled effect of male child preference on the decision making of women in choosing contraception is a cross sectional study carried out on 700 subjects in Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Sultania Zanana Hospital, Gandhi Medical College, Bhopal. Study population includes women of reproductive age group who came to seek contraceptive advice from family planning OPD of the hospital.Results: Subjects having 2 male children preferred permanent method of contraception (66%) as compared to subjects having 2 female children (7.93%), this result is statistically significant(p<0.05) showing a strong preference for male child in Indian society.Conclusions: The results indicated that a woman's desire to limit family size with preferred sex composition of children, coupled with her autonomy and the socio cultural context, are the major determinants of contraceptive method choices.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Contraceptives among Saudi Women in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia

Objective: The study was carried out to assess the knowledge, attitude towards, and practice of contraception and the factors that could affect its use among Saudi women in Aseer region of Saudi Arabia.Methods: This cross-sectional and hospital-based study was conducted in Aseer Region, Saudi Arabia, during one year (January, 2014 – December, 2014). Five-hundred women of reproductive age (18–45 year) were interviewed regarding their knowledge, attitude and practices of contraception. The inquiries were recorded by a predesigned questionnaire. Questions on methods of contraception known and source of knowledge and their practices were recorded.Results: The mean ± SD of age was 32.7 + 7.2 years. (99.2%) of women heard and had knowledge of contraception, while (0.8%) said they did not know anything about contraception. (377 subjects, 75.4%) used contraception, while 123 subjects (24.6%) did not. Oral pill method of contraception was the most popular method known and practiced (87.0%, 32.2% respectively). The media seemed to be the major source of information (40.8%). In response to the reason for non-use, the majority said they wanted more children (10.2%). The major reason for the use of contraception was to limit family size (32.0%). The majority (79.6%) of women had good attitude towards contraception.Conclusion: The present study concludes that a significant proportion of respondents have good knowledge about contraception. But practice of contraception and compliance is low. Desire of more children is one of the major factors among reasons of the non-use of contraception.Bangladesh Journal of Medical Science Vol.15(3) 2016 p.430-434

Is There a Moral Obligation to Limit Family Size?

Although we have an important obligation to protect the environment, people are not morally required to choose to have smaller families for environmental reasons.

DESIRED FAMILY SIZE, FAMILY PLANNING AND FERTILITY IN ETHIOPIA

Summary.This paper models the proximate determinants of children born to over 13,000 Ethiopian women and of the women’s stated preferences for additional births using the data from the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Survey 2000. Empirical models for the number of children born to women were estimated using Poisson and ordinal regressions. The results show the importance of variables such as maternal education for smaller family size, and that variables reflecting desired family size are strong predictors of the numbers of children born to women. Secondly, binary logistic models for dichotomous variables for women not wanting more children and if getting pregnant would be a ‘big problem’ showed non-linear effects of the surviving and ‘ideal’ number of children. Moreover, the results indicated a desire on the part of women to limit family size, especially as the number of surviving children increased. Probit models were estimated to address potential endogeneity of certain variables. Overall, the results indicated that counselling couples about small family size and increasing the utilization of health care services can lower fertility in Ethiopia.

Childhood Memories and Contemporary Parenting in Ekiti, Nigeria

The practice of pawning children, whose labour served as interest paid on loans, was common in precolonial and early colonial Ekiti Yoruba society. Known as , these children would work for the lender until their kinsmen had repaid the debts they had incurred. British colonial officials came to view this practice as a form of slavery and eventually outlawed it. This paper considers the life history of one older man who worked as an in a small Ekiti Yoruba town, focusing on his memories of child-pawning and how this practice has been interpreted by his children. The paper then examines the process whereby people's changed thinking about the moral bases of pawning parallels contemporary reassessments of the practice of child-fostering by young parents, some of whom claim that it is ‘like slavery’. How subsequent generations of townspeople remember slavery, child-pawning and, more recently, child-fostering, have implications for reproduction, since what it means to have the number of children who can be ‘raised well’ may contribute to social and economic pressures to limit family size. This study of memories of pawning and child-fostering, which support reduced fertility, underscores the ways that distinctive historical experiences have had different consequences for how reproduction is perceived and practised.

BIRTH SEASONALITY IN THE OLD ORDER AMISH

The Old Order Amish are a healthy and well-nourished natural fertility population, so that the timing of births is not influenced by behaviours to limit family size, undernutrition or disease. The present study examines the monthly distribution of 8160 births occurring between 1920 and 1991 in the Geauga Settlement in north-east Ohio, USA. The monthly distribution of births in the Geauga Settlement is bimodal, with a major peak extending from August to October, a minor peak in February, and a major trough from April to June. This pattern is almost identical to the pattern found in the US in 1943. The monthly distribution of first births appears to be influenced to some extent by a highly significant seasonal pattern of weddings. The pattern of births in the Old Order Amish is consistent with the hypothesis that the spring trough in US births is at least partially caused by a decrease in coital frequency and/or a decrease in fecundability as a result of hot summer temperatures but is not consistent with the hypothesis that the fall peak in US births is primarily due to an increase in coital frequency during the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday seasons.

The regulation of fertility in pre-industrial populations: a local study from eighteenth century Finland

The crude birth rate in Finland in the eighteenth century was more than 40 per thousand. At the same time there was considerable regional diversity. This study of a coastal population in southwestern Finland reveals that the fertility was well below that of the country as a whole and as low or even lower that that recorded for neighboring countries. A more detailed study of families in Houtskiir indicates that the pattern of fertility varied according to the socioeconomic standing of the family head. Differences in age at first marriage were a critical determinant of these variations but other important factors were birth spacing and the timing of the last birth. A conscious attempt was made to limit family size.

Differential paternity in Libya

SummaryLibya is one of the Middle East nations with very high fertility, and data from 1973 suggest the presence of a natural fertility regime marked by the absence of fertility limitation within marriage. Analysis of paternity data by occupation, however, identifies major differences in the level and pattern of childbearing. The Libyan data are compared with fertility and paternity data from an American frontier population to demonstrate that the general patterns observed are consistent with other natural fertility populations, while selected occupational groups may limit family size.

Abortion experience among obstetric patients at Korle-Bu Hospital, Accra, Ghana

SummaryAmong obstetric patients with at least one previous pregnancy, over 20% reported having at least one induced abortion. Abortion experience was more common among women at lower gravidities and among women with the highest levels of education, suggesting that abortion is most used to delay the first birth, particularly for young women still at school. This is in contrast to the situation in Latin America where abortion is used most often to limit family size.The proportion of women who reported that they used contraception prior to the pregnancy was low, suggesting that knowledge of attitudes towards and availability of family planning services needs to be improved.