f

CONTENTS

         Chapters
  1. Family Planning—An Asset for Women
  2. Family Planning Saves Lives
  3. Contraceptive Use Helps Women Plan
  4. How Can Family Planning Programs Benefit Women?
  5. Encouraging Men's Cooperation
  6. Employing Women in Family Planning Programs
  7. Shaping Policies to Meet Women's Needs

HIGHLIGHTS


Population Reports is published by the Population Information Program, Center for Communication Programs, The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, 111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, Maryland 21202-4012, USA


Volume XXII, Number 1
July, 1994

Spacing Pregnancies Improves Children's Health

 A child's serious illness or death is a common event in many places and a cause of great stress and grief. Couples can reduce their children's health risks by spacing births. Children who are born within 17 months after the preceding birth are about twice as likely to die before age 5 as those born 24 to 47 months after the preceding child (137, 261). Even children born after an interval of 18 to 23 months are about one-third more likely to die than children born 24 to 47 months after the preceding child. In Brazil and Egypt the child mortality rate could be cut by up to one-third if all births were spaced more than two years apart (137).

Many women are having their children closer together than they wish. The World Fertility Survey (WFS) and Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) indicate that 90% of women who plan to become pregnant would like to space their children at intervals longer than 24 months. More than one-third, however, have a second birth within 24 months (137).

Research also shows that children are more likely to die if their mothers are younger than age 18. According to the WFS and DHS, delaying the first birth until the mother is at least 18 years old reduces the risk of the first child's death by an average of 20%. In the Dominican Republic, Egypt, Mexico, and Peru, delaying childbearing at least until the age of 18 would reduce the risk of the first child's death by 30% (137).


Previous | Next
Top of Page | Table of Contents


111 Market Place, Suite 310, Baltimore, MD 21202, USA
Phone: (410) 659.6300/Fax: (410) 659.6266/E-mail: Poprepts@jhuccp.org

Population Reports