Hostname: page-component-7479d7b7d-wxhwt Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-12T05:52:09.149Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Correlates and implications of breast-feeding practices in Bas Zaire

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Nancy Beth Mock
Affiliation:
Department of Biostatistics and Epidemiology
Jane T. Bertrand
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Health Sciences, Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA
Nlandu Mangani
Affiliation:
Hopital Evangelique, Nsona Mpangu, Bas Zaire

Summary

A sample of 1871 women having a child under 3 years old in Bas Zaire was studied to determine the correlates of breast-feeding practices and to examine the interrelationships among breast-feeding, contraceptive practices and desire for pregnancy. Socioeconomic factors that were related to the length of breast-feeding include economic status, maternal education, migration status, urban residence, pregnancy and sex of the index child. Among non-pregnant women, current desire for pregnancy also was related to breast-feeding status when the length of time since birth of the last child was taken into account. Rural women were reportedly ready for another pregnancy sooner after the birth of their last child than were urban women. On the other hand, urban women were much less likely to be practising traditional abstinence or other effective methods of contraception.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1986

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bertrand, J., Bertrand, W., Mangani, L. & Landry, E.G. (1982). The Tulane/PRODEF Operations Research Project in Bas Zaire: Results. Tulane University, New Orleans, La.Google Scholar
Bertrand, J., Mangani, L., Mansilu, M. & Landry, E.G. (1985) Factors influencing the use of the traditional versus modern methods of family planning in Bas Zaire. Stud. Fam. Plann. in press.Google ScholarPubMed
Caldwell, J.C. & Caldwell, P. (1977) The role of marital abstinence in determining fertility: a study of the Yoruba in Nigeria. Popul. Stud. 31, 193.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jain, A. & Bongaarts, J. (1981) Breastfeeding: patterns, correlates and fertility effects. Stud. Fam. Plann. 12, 79.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Lesthaeghe, R., Page, H. J. & Adegkola, O. (1981) Child-spacing and fertility in Lagos. In: Child-Spacing in Tropical Africa: Traditions and Change, p. 147. Edited by Page, H. J. & Lesthaeghe, R.. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Page, H. J. & Lesthaeghe, R. (1981) Child Spacing in Tropical Africa: Traditions and Change. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Sala-Diakanda, M., Pittshandange, N.A., Tabutin, D. & Vildquin, E. (1981) Fertility and child-spacing in western Zaire, p. 287. In: Child-Spacing in Tropical Africa: Traditions and Change. Edited by Page, H. J. & Lesthaeghe, R.. Academic Press, New York.Google Scholar
Smith, D.P. & Ferry, B. (1984) Correlates of Breastfeeding. Technical Report No. 2319, World Fertility Survey, London.Google Scholar
Vis, H.L. & Hennart, P.H. (1978) Decline in breastfeeding: about some of its causes. Acta paediat. Belg. 31, 195.Google ScholarPubMed
World Health Organization (1981) Contemporary Patterns of Breastfeeding. Report on the World Health Organization Collaborative Study on Breastfeeding. WHO, Geneva.Google Scholar
World Health Organization (1982) The prevalence and duration of breastfeeding: a critical review of available information. WHO statist. Q. 2, 92.Google Scholar
Zurayk, H. (1981) Breastfeeding and contraceptive patterns postpartum: a study in south Lebanon. Stud. Fam. Plann. 12, 237.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed