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Appropriate birth spacing improves the outcomes of children and mothers, but spacing intervals are short in sub-Saharan African countries. This paper investigates one of the behavioural mechanisms behind the short intervals by studying the impact of foetus loss including miscarriage and stillbirth. Since most of these pregnancy losses result from a genetic abnormality in the fertile egg, they can be considered random conditional on factors such as maternal age and fixed effects. We find that a pregnancy loss experience leads to a mechanical increase in the next birth spacing interval that includes the loss and the next conception. More importantly, we also find that a pregnancy loss brings about a decrease in the intervals for all subsequent births and that the shortening effect does not disappear throughout the mother's life. Much of the shortening effect is explained once we introduce an individual-specific indicator for the realised probability of pregnancy loss. These results imply that pregnancy loss affects birth spacing by making mothers overestimate their probability of losing their unborn children. They further suggest a belief updating mechanism where mothers update their subjective probability of losing a pregnancy based on the results of their own pregnancies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Low birth weight (LBW) is one of the major determinants of perinatal survival, infant morbidity, and mortality, as well as the risk of developmental disabilities and illnesses in future lives. Though studies were conducted to assess the magnitude and associated factors of low birth weight, most of the studies were at a single center and little information on the regional level. Hence, this study assessed the prevalence and associated factors of low birth weight in Sub-Saharan countries. Method: This study was based on secondary data sources from 35 Sub-Saharan countries' Demography and Health Survey (DHS). For this study, we used the Kids Record (KR file) data set. In the KR file, all under-five children who were born in the last five years preceding the survey in the selected enumeration area who had birth weight data were included for the study. To identify determinants of low birth weight multivariable mixed-effect logistic regression model fitted. Adjusted Odds Ratios (AOR) with a 95% Confidence Interval (CI) and p-value ≤0.05 in the multivariable model were used to declare significant factors associated with low birth weight at birth. Result: The pooled prevalence of newborn babies' low birth weight measured at birth in Sub-Saharan Africa was 9.76% with (95% CI: 9.63% to 9.89%). Female child, women not participated in healthcare decision making, and wider birth intervals, divorced/ separated women, and twin pregnancies associated with increased occurrences of low birth weight, while some level of woman and husband education, antenatal care visits, older maternal age, and multiparity associated with reduced occurrence low birth weight. Conclusion: This study revealed that the magnitude of low birth weight was high in sub-Saharan Africa countries. Therefore, the finding suggests that more emphasis is important for women with a lack of support, multiples, and healthcare decision-making problems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated birth-interval dynamics in 24 African countries using data from 76 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted since 1986. Controlling for selection bias in the birth-history data using the Brass–Juárez method and regression models produced almost identical results. Birth intervals have lengthened in every country examined. This analysis uncovered a distinctive and previously undocumented pattern of childbearing that is prevalent across sub-Saharan Africa. After allowing for time trends in birth-interval length, the lengthening of birth intervals in almost every country varies little by women's age or parity. Moreover, in several countries, birth intervals are now too long to be explicable by birth spacing contingent on the age of women's youngest child. Rather, women are postponing births for other reasons. These findings offer empirical support for the idea that the fertility transition in sub-Saharan Africa is following a different pattern from that observed elsewhere. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]