Maternal formal education and the four-child policy in Nigeria

A cross-sectional survey was done in the puerperium of 320 mothers who delivered at Ogun State University Teaching Hospital, Sagamu, Nigeria over a period of three months. The patients were stratified according to their parities in relation to their levels of formal education. The results showed that those with the least formal education were the most parous (p less than 0.005) and had the highest perinatal deaths. The difference between perinatal deaths suffered by mothers with no formal education and those with post-secondary school education was statistically significant (p less than 0.05). No association was demonstrated between the level of formal education and the delivery of low birthweight infants. When compared with grandmultiparae (parity greater than or equal to 5), primipara had more formal education (p less than 0.005). Therefore, for a successful implementation of the four-child policy in Nigeria, a concerted effort must be made to encourage maternal formal education. This should be to at least secondary school level.

A Rehnquistean bed: the abortion issue revisited

Individuals as members of societies are subject to externally imposed norms of behavior (laws). When societal control and regulation adversely impact upon individual autonomy, conflict is frequently the end product. Such issues surround the rights of privacy vis-a-vis the abortion issue. The Supreme Court addressed this issue in the 1988-1989 term. This article critically examines the court's decision and raises questions of individual and professional import.

Is development really the best contraceptive? A 20-year trial in Comilla district, Bangladesh

"This article examines which public programmes and which socio-economic development indicators have had an impact on contraceptive practices and fertility in a selected group of villages in Comilla district of Bangladesh. It finds that equitable, even-handed development may be a good 'contraceptive', but is not a realistic alternative to family planning effort.... This research, undertaken in 1985, replicates a similar knowledge, attitudes and practice (KAP) type study undertaken in these same villages some 20 years earlier, in 1967/68....Thus, the two studies provide a unique look at demographic behavioural characteristics when these agricultural development programmes were in an early stage and then 20 years later."

Fertility adaptation of Turkish and Moroccan women in the Netherlands

"After a short overview of fertility trends among Turkish and Moroccan immigrants in the Netherlands, based upon population and vital registration data, determinants of these trends are analysed using survey data on cumulative fertility as well as on desired fertility." The author concludes that although "a long time series of data is not yet available due to the fairly recent history of the migration of Turkish and Moroccan women to the Netherlands, it appears that their fertility level is declining. Migrant fertility levels are lower than in the countries of origin.... Factors in the decline of overall immigrant fertility are variables related to the country of destination: work and education, insofar as this education was received in the Netherlands." (SUMMARY IN FRE AND SPA)

[[Parent-child residential relationship and migration from the viewpoint of children]]

"Facilitated by our previous macro-models, we analyzed the effects of children's characteristics on the residential relationship with parents using the data of the Second National Survey on Migration in Japan, 1986 conducted by [the] Institute of Population Problems. The characteristics studied here were children's age, birth order, marital status, sex, sib size, number of living parents, education and birth place." Comparisons are made of the age, sex, and marital status of children who leave the parental home and those who continue to reside with their parents. (SUMMARY IN ENG)

Pregnancy resolution decisions in juvenile detention

A group of detained pregnant adolescents and expectant teenage fathers served as participants in a qualitative research project designed to describe how adolescents residing in a large metropolitan area juvenile detention facility make health- and pregnancy-related decisions. During the course of the study and clinical work with this population, it was found that although troubled and troublesome, these teenagers do not present as bleak and depressing a picture as might appear on the surface. Three primary themes emerged from the study findings: responsibility, reputation, and respect. These themes were bound to the important relationships in the teenagers' lives. The participants also presented some surprising strengths and resolutions for the future that psychiatric and liaison nurses working in the setting can use in program planning and clinical interventions.

Antenatal care and educational problems of unmarried teenage mothers in Nairobi

Part of a detailed analysis of 864 unmarried teenage mothers delivering in Pumwani Maternity Hospital and Kenyatta National Hospital is presented. Teenage pregnancy amounted for 42.3% of all deliveries of unmarried mothers. Most teenage patients were above 16 years of age, had a religious background of wide coverage, had low quality antenatal care and low education. 94.6% were found to be primigravidas. This dominance has also been found by other workers.

Child survival, height for age and household characteristics in Brazil

"The impact of household characteristics on child survival and height, conditional on age, is examined using household survey data from Brazil. Parental education is found to have a very strong positive effect on both outcomes and this is robust to the inclusion of household income and also parental heights, which partly proxy for unobserved family background characteristics. We find that income effects are significant and positive for child survival but insignificant for for child height although the latter depends on identification assumptions. Parental height has a large positive impact on child height and on survival rates even after controlling for all other observable characteristics."