The effects of pregnancy spacing on infant and child mortality in Matlab, Bangladesh: how they vary by the type of pregnancy outcome that began the interval.

Using high-quality longitudinal data on 125,720 singleton live births in Matlab, Bangladesh, we assessed the effects of duration of intervals between pregnancy outcomes on infant and child mortality and how these effects vary over subperiods of infancy and childhood and by the type of outcome that began the interval. Controlling for other correlates of infant and child mortality, we find that shorter intervals are associated with higher mortality. Interval effects are greater if the interval began with a live birth than with another pregnancy outcome. In the first week of the child's life, the effects of short intervals are greater if the sibling born at the beginning of the interval died; after the first month, the effects are greater if that sibling was still alive. Many relationships found are consistent with the maternal depletion hypothesis, and some with sibling competition. Some appear to be due to correlated risks among births to the same mother.

Pregnancy termination in Matlab, Bangladesh: trends and correlates of use of safer and less-safe methods.

CONTEXT: Menstrual regulation (MR), a relatively safe form of pregnancy termination, is legal in Bangladesh during the early stages of pregnancy. However, little is known about the factors associated with whether women who terminate pregnancies choose this method or a less-safe one. METHODS: Data from the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System on 122,691 pregnancies-5,221 (4.3%) of which were terminated-were used to examine trends between 1989 and 2008 in termination and in use of safer methods (MR or dilation and curettage) and less-safe (all other) methods of pregnancy termination. Logistic and multinomial logistic regressions were used to assess factors associated with whether women terminate pregnancies and whether they use safer methods. RESULTS: Sixty-seven percent of pregnancy terminations were by safer methods and 33% by less-safe means. The proportion of pregnancies that were terminated increased between 1989 and 2008; this increase was entirely due to increased use of safer methods. Women younger than 18 and those 25 or older were more likely than women aged 20-24 to terminate their pregnancies (odds ratios ranged from 1.5 among women aged 16-17 or 25-29 to 26.1 among those aged 45 or older). Among women who terminated their pregnancies, those aged 25-44 were more likely than those aged 20-24 to use a safer method. Compared with women who had no formal education, those with some education were more likely to terminate their pregnancies and to do so using safer methods. CONCLUSION: A growing proportion of pregnancies in Matlab are terminated, and these terminations are increasingly done using safer methods.

Pregnancy termination in Matlab, Bangladesh: maternal mortality risks associated with menstrual regulation and abortion.

CONTEXT: In Bangladesh, both menstrual regulation (MR), which is thought to be a relatively safe method, and abortion, which in this setting is often performed using unsafe methods, are used to terminate pregnancies (known or suspected). However, little is known about changes over time in the use of these methods or their relative mortality risks. METHODS: Data from the Demographic Surveillance System in Matlab, Bangladesh, on 110,152 pregnancy outcomes between 1989 and 2008 were used to assess changes in mortality risks associated with MR (and a small number of dilation and curettage procedures), abortion and live birth. Tabulation and logistic regression analyses were used to compare outcomes in two areas of Matlab--the comparison area, which receives standard government health and family planning services, and the Maternal and Child Health-Family Planning (MCH-FP) area, which receives enhanced health and family planning services. RESULTS: In Matlab as a whole, the proportion of pregnancies ending in MR increased from 1.9% in 1989-1999 to 4.2% in 2000-2008, while the proportion ending in abortion decreased from 1.6% to 1.1%. The odds of mortality from MR were 4.1 times those from live birth in 1989-1999, but were no longer elevated in 2000-2008. The odds of mortality from abortion were 12.0 and 4.9 times those of live birth in 1989-1999 and 2000-2008, respectively. Reduction in mortality risk was greater in the MCH-FP area than the comparison area (90% vs. 75%). CONCLUSION: MR is no longer associated with higher mortality risk than live birth in Bangladesh, but abortion is.

Influences on pregnancy-termination decisions in Matlab, Bangladesh.

We investigate factors affecting women's decisions to terminate pregnancies in Matlab, Bangladesh, using logistic regression on high-quality data from the Demographic Surveillance System on more than 215,000 pregnancies that occurred between 1978 and 2008. Variables associated with the desire not to have another birth soon (very young and older maternal age, a greater number of living children, the recent birth of twins or of a son, a short interval since a recent live birth) are associated with a greater likelihood of pregnancy termination, and the effects of many of these explanatory variables are stronger in more recent years. Women are less likely to terminate a pregnancy if they don't have any living sons or recently experienced a miscarriage, a stillbirth, or the death of a child. The higher the woman's level of education, the more likely she is to terminate a pregnancy. Between 1982 and the mid-2000s, pregnancy termination was significantly less likely in the area of Matlab with better family planning services.

How long after a miscarriage should women wait before becoming pregnant again? Multivariate analysis of cohort data from Matlab, Bangladesh.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the optimum interpregnancy interval (IPI) following a miscarriage. DESIGN: Multivariate analysis of population-based, prospective data from a demographic surveillance system. SETTING: Pregnancies in Matlab, Bangladesh, between 1977 and 2008. PARTICIPANTS: 9214 women with 10 453 pregnancies that ended in a miscarriage and were followed by another pregnancy outcome. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Outcome of pregnancy following the miscarriage was singleton live birth, stillbirth, miscarriage or induced abortion. For pregnancies that ended in live birth: early neonatal, late neonatal and postneonatal mortality. RESULTS: Compared with IPIs of 6-12 months, pregnancies that were conceived ≤3 months after a miscarriage were more likely to result in a live birth and less likely to result in a miscarriage (adjusted relative risk ratio (RRR) 0.70, 95% CI 0.57 to 0.86) or induced abortion (0.50, 0.29 to 0.89). Induced abortions were significantly more likely following IPIs of 18-24 months (2.36, 1.48 to 3.76), 36-48 months (2.73, 1.50 to 4.94), and >48 months (3.32, 1.68 to 2.95), and miscarriages were more likely following IPIs of 12-17 months (1.25, 1.01 to 1.56) and >48 months (1.90, 1.40 to 2.58). No significant effects of IPI duration are seen on the risks of a stillbirth. However, IPIs≤3 months following a miscarriage are associated with significantly higher late neonatal mortality for the infant born at the end of the IPI (adjusted hazard ratio (HR) 1.74, 1.06 to 2.84), and IPIs of 12-18 months are associated with a significantly lower unadjusted risk of postneonatal mortality (0.54, 0.30 to 0.96). CONCLUSIONS: The shorter the IPI following a miscarriage, the more likely the subsequent pregnancy is to result in a live birth. However, very short IPIs may not be advisable following miscarriages in poor countries like Bangladesh because they are associated with a higher risk of mortality for the infants born after them.

The role of pregnancy outcomes in the maternal mortality rates of two areas in Matlab, Bangladesh.

CONTEXT: The Matlab Maternal Child Health-Family Planning (MCH-FP) project provides maternity care as part of its reproductive health services. It is important to assess whether this project has reduced maternal mortality and, if so, whether this was due to differences between the MCH-FP area (which received project services) and the comparison area (which did not) in pregnancy rates, pregnancy outcomes or case-fatality rates. METHODS: Data from the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System on 165,894 pregnancies over the period 1982-2005 were used to calculate four measures of maternal mortality for the MCH-FP and comparison areas. Mortality risk was examined by type of pregnancy outcome and by area, and bivariate and logistic regression analyses were used to generate unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios, respectively. RESULTS: The maternal mortality rate of 35 deaths per 100,000 women of reproductive age in the MCH-FP area was 37% lower than that in the comparison area (56 deaths per 100,000). In both areas, the maternal mortality risk was considerably higher for pregnancies that ended in induced abortion, miscarriage or stillbirth than for those that resulted in live birth (odds ratios, 4.2, 2.0 and 17.4, respectively). The difference in maternal mortality rates between the two areas was mainly a result of the MCH-FP area's lower pregnancy rate and its lower case-fatality rates for induced abortions, miscarriages and stillbirths. CONCLUSIONS: Interventions to increase contraceptive use; to reduce the incidence of induced abortion, miscarriage and stillbirth; to improve the management of such outcomes; and to strengthen antenatal care could substantially reduce maternal mortality in Bangladesh and similar countries.

Reliability of reasons for early termination of breastfeeding: application of a bivariate probability model with sample selection to data from surveys in Malaysia in 1976-77 and 1988-89.

Although extensively collected, data on people's reasons for their behaviour provided retrospectively have been met with some scepticism on the grounds that they may be subject to biases and errors that jeopardize their usefulness. This study investigates, for a sample of 1,327 births, the reliability with which women in Peninsular Malaysia recalled, at intervals 12 years apart, reasons for not initiating or for stopping breastfeeding less than 3 months after a birth. Overall, we find low to moderate reliability of recall. Levels of reliability are relatively high for some reasons (the child died and no or insufficient milk) but low for some others (child ill, breastfeeding inconvenient). Results from selection models show that reliability does not vary with the length of time since the child's birth but is inversely related to socio-economic status (proxied by education and employment). Social status, social norms, and health-related factors appear to be significant influences on women's consistency of reporting.

Why are infant and child mortality rates lower in the MCH-FP area of Matlab, Bangladesh?

Infant and child mortality rates are significantly lower in the Maternal and Child Health-Family Planning (MCH-FP) area of Matlab, Bangladesh, than in a comparison area. The two areas are similar in terms of socioeconomic characteristics, but the MCH-FP area provides better maternal and child health and family planning services, resulting in different reproductive patterns, including lower fertility rates and longer intervals between pregnancies. We use data from the Matlab Demographic Surveillance System for nearly 126,000 singleton live births that occurred between 1982 and 2002 to investigate the extent to which the different reproductive patterns in the MCH-FP area explain why infant and child mortality rates are lower there. Differences in reproductive patterns account for a small portion (up to 20 percent) of the variation in these rates between the MCH-FP and comparison areas, suggesting that the majority of the difference is due to the quality of MCH services.

Trends in European fertility: should Europe try to increase its fertility rate...or just manage the consequences?

Currently across Europe, birth rates are falling and the population is aging. This paper describes these trends and assesses which policies can prevent or mitigate the adverse consequences of these two trends.

Changes in American opinion about family planning.

A 1998 public opinion survey conducted in the United States indicated high levels of support for many family planning policies, including US health insurance coverage of family planning services and US sponsorship of family planning programs in developing countries. To gauge changes in opinion on these issues since then, some of the 1998 questions were asked in an omnibus 2003 survey. The results indicate continuing high support for requiring US health insurers to cover family planning services (87 percent in 1998 and 84 percent in 2003), but some loss of support (from 80 to 69 percent) for US sponsorship of family planning programs in developing countries. Opinion remains divided on the policy of prohibiting nongovernmental organizations from receiving federal funding for performing or actively promoting abortion services. The authors explore several possible explanations for these findings, including the role changing presidential policy may have had in shaping opinion regarding family planning aid for developing countries.