Factors influencing lowered fertility in couples who never practised family planning: a study in rural India
Dutta, R.; Seal, S.C.
Indian Journal of Medical Research 64(2): 267-283
1976
ISSN/ISBN: 0019-5340 PMID: 1270115 Document Number: 98658
In a study of family planning practices among 2514 couples in the Singur rural area in W Bengal during 1971-72, 1619 (64.4%) did not practice family planning. Among them 4.1% had no children and 6.1% had 1 child. A study was done to determine the factors possibly responsible for subfecundity in these couples. These included physical causes, heredity, blood groups, Rh factor and social and cultural activities. Initially 779 couples were available, but only 251 couples cooperated for the study of blood groups and Rh factor. The family planning never-practiced group had fewer live births (3.71/married woman) than the practicing couples (4.53/married woman). The fertility pattern was of 3 categories, e.g., fertile, sub-fertile (having 1 child) and infertile (no children). Their distribution by age and duration of marriage was similar in the practicing and never-practiced couples and in those with identical or non-identical blood groups. Among the physical causes, menstrual disorder in wives and defective spermatogenesis and venereal diseases in husbands apparently were associated with some infertile and sub-fertile couples, but these were absent in fertile couples. Family size in past generations, Rh factors, addictions in husbands and chronic illness in wives and husbands did not influence infertility. Those participating in socio-cultural activities had fewer children without practice of contraception than those not participating in such activities. Non-identical blood groups between husband and wife appeared to have some influence on infertility or subfertility, the proportion of infertility in couples with non-identical blood groups being 63.8% against 37.2% in those with identical blood groups; the difference is highly statistically significant. Among the infertile couples, blood group B registered the highest proportion (40.7%), followed by blood group A (24.0%), blood group O (18.5%) and blood group AB (16.7%). The proportions of infertile and sub-fertile couples were highest in all age groups between 15-40 yr and in almost all ranges of duration of marriage in couples with non-identical blood groups than in those with identical blood groups; the differences are statistically significant. Difference in blood group between husband and wife is a possible cause of infertility and subfertility.