Birth interval differentials in Rwanda
Ilinigumugabo, A.
Cahiers Quebecois de Demographie 21(1): 67-98
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0380-1721 PMID: 12286513 Document Number: 330705
Data from the 1983 Rwanda Fertility Survey are the basis for this study of variations in birth intervals. An analysis of the quality of the Rwandan birth data showed it to be relatively good. The life table technique utilized in this study is explained in a section on methodology, which also describes the Rwanda Fertility Survey questionnaires. A comparison of birth intervals in which live born children died before their first birthday or survived the first birthday shows that infant mortality shortens birth intervals by an average of 5 months. The first birth interval was almost 28 months when the oldest child survived, but declined to 23 months when the oldest child died before age 1. The effect of mortality on birth intervals increased with parity, from 5 months for the first birth interval to 5.5 months for the second and third and 6.4 months for subsequent intervals. The differences amounted to 9 or 10 months for women separating at parities under 4 and over 14 months for women separating at parities of 4 or over. Birth intervals generally increased with parity, maternal age, and the duration of the union. But women entering into unions at higher ages had shorter birth intervals. In the absence of infant mortality and dissolution of the union, women attending school beyong the primary level had first birth intervals 6 months shorter on average than other women. Controlling for infant mortality and marital dissolution, women working for wages had average birth intervals of under 2 years for the first 5 births. Father's occupation had a less marked influence on birth intervals. Urban residence was associated with a shortening of the average birth interval by 6 months between the first and second birth and 5 months between the second and third births. In the first 5 births, Tutsi women had birth intervals 1.5 months longer on average than Hutu women. Women in polygamous unions did not have significantly different birth intervals except perhaps among older women. The data show that women who begin childbearing later in Rwanda are able to recuperate much of their lost fertility through their accelerated pace of childbearing.