CONTEXT The Indian family planning program, though successful in increasing contraceptive use among couples who have achieved their desired family size, has not been equally successful in educating couples about the use of contraceptive methods for birth spacing. METHODS An evaluation was conducted of a behavior change communication intervention integrated into the existing government program...

Introduction Birth spacing is a critical pathway to improving reproductive health. WHO recommends minimum of 33-month interval between two consecutive births reduce maternal, perinatal, infant morbidity and mortality. Our study evaluated factors associated with short birth intervals (SBIs) less than 33 months births, in Karachi, Pakistan. Methods We used data from cross-sectional among married ...

in a case control study the effects of literacy, socio-economic status and the fertility behavior of mothers were fully investigated in two groups. out of 13123 babies born in 17 hospitals during almost 8 months in 1988-1989 in tehran 730 had a low birth weight (less than 2500 gr). as a control group, 1460 births were randomly selected from normal weight births. some basic findings are as follo...

Prior to early 1970s, traditional methods were the principal means of controlling the number and spacing of births. Today, an estimated 57 per cent of the world’s married women use contraceptives and half use modern methods such as medical sterilizations. Recent statistics suggest that Canada has the highest sterilization rate in the Western world. This paper presents findings of research exami...

Introduction Inadequately spaced pregnancies, defined as pregnancies fewer than 18 months apart, are linked to maternal, infant, and child morbidity and mortality, and adverse social, educational and economic outcomes in later life for women and children. Quantifying the relation between intimate partner violence (IPV) and women's ability to space and time their pregnancies is an important part...

BACKGROUND The distribution of birth intervals can be used to draw attention to important characteristics of dynamics of fertility process. The main objective of this paper is to examine the effects of socioeconomic, demographic and proximate determinants on the length of birth intervals of women of Bangladesh and also to see whether the effects are changed over the years. METHODS Birth inter...

Birth weight is an important determinant of infant's well being as low birth weight is known to increase the risk adult onset of diseases like type-2 diabetes and ischemic heart disease. Maternal weight gain is one of the most important independent predictors of infant birth weight. Institute of Medicine of the National Academics, USA has recommended that total weight gain of mothers should be ...

Postpartum contraception is important to prevent unintended pregnancies. Assisting women in achieving recommended inter-pregnancy intervals is a significant maternal-child health concern. Short inter-pregnancy intervals are associated with negative perinatal, neonatal, infant, and maternal health outcomes. More than 30% of women experience inter-pregnancy intervals of less than 18 months in the...

The singlemost popular moment in Africa (andmany other regions) to initiate family planning may well be the 6-week postpartum clinic visit, when mothers also bring infants to begin the crucial primary immunization series. A 6-week start does indeed work well for mothers accepting long-acting, reversible contraceptives (LARCs) such as implants and intrauterine devices (IUDs), because thesemethod...

Recent stagnation in the reduction of infant mortality in India can arguably be attributed to early child bearing practices and the lack of progress in lengthening birth intervals. Meanwhile, family planning efforts have been particularly successful in the southern states such as Andhra Pradesh, although family limitation is almost exclusively by means of sterilisation at increasingly younger a...