Back to home page1993 - VOLUME 39, NUMBER 2
93.28.01 - English - Avabai B. WADIA
The International Conference on Population and Development - Prepcom II Meeting: Intervention by the Representative of the Family Planning Association of India)
(INDIA, FAMILY PLANNING PROGRAMMES, CONFERENCES)
93.28.02 - English - M.E. KHAN
Cultural Determinants of Infant Mortality in India
The persistence of a high level of infant mortality in India, despite considerable medical action both in rural and urban zones, can mainly be attributed to non-medical factors: the extreme poverty resulting from female malnutrition, in particular pregnant women, early marriage and the submissive status of women which make them unpaid family workers. Women are exploited, devaluated, have bad social coverage and are excluded from the benefits of development, in particular education, employment and health services. Their ignorance in matters of childrearing and vaccination and their traditional breastfeeding and weaning practices only aggravate the situation. The author believes that it will be impossible to see any significant progress in the field of infant mortality if there is no real development of all the other fronts (feeding, education, health) and substantial improvements in women's status. (INDIA, INFANT MORTALITY, MORTALITY DETERMINANTS, CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT)
93.28.03 - English - H.C. DAS and J. BHATTACHARJEE
No-scalpel Vasectomy: Hope for the Future
The authors provide a brief description of the no-scalpel vasectomy technique and its main advantages amongst which is the fact that it is readily acceptable to the male population. (INDIA, VASECTOMY)
93.28.04 - English - M. BHATTACHARYA, G. SINGH, S. C. BANERJEE and R.K. NARULA
An In-depth Analysis of Women with Post-Abortal Bleeding)
A survey on 150 females suffering from post-abortal bleeding has made it possible to observe the correlation between this rather common type of complication with age, parity and pregnancy duration. Younger women who have not yet had numerous pregnancies and who have not been pregnant long are the least likely to suffer bleeding. Contraceptive practice has hardly any impact. (INDIA, ABORTION, COMPLICATIONS)
93.28.05 - English - Rashmi S. SHAH, Jayashree V. JOSHI, Kamal T. HAZARI and Shanta M. CHITLANGE
Lactation, Postpartum Amenorrhoea and Abstinence after Delivery in an Urban Population of Bombay
Using a sample of 350 young women, the authors noted that most of them began to give their babies foods other than breast milk as early as the third or fourth month. Six months after birth, feeding had become mixed in 91.5% of cases. The average duration of postpartum amenorrhoea noted in this study was 5.3 months, while more than half of the mothers breastfed for at least nine months. It is the introduction of mixed feeding which precipitates the return of a menstrual cycle among lactating mothers. The average duration of postpartum abstinence was 3.5 months. Both of these durations have tended to decrease over the last thirty years. The authors conclude that intensifying information services for women and contraceptive practice is a matter of some urgency. (INDIA, LACTATION, POST-PARTUM AMENORRHOEA, SEXUAL ABSTINENCE)
93.28.06 - English - P. AROKIASAMY
Poverty and Use of Contraceptive Methods
The author studies the importance of contraceptive practice for women belonging either to rich or to poor households, in the aim of evaluating the impact of poverty on the use of contraception and of studying its links with the socio-demographic variables which underlie the adoption of family planning. The study covers a sample of 643 households chosen in five villages and one town in Tamil Nadu. Almost all of the women, whether rich or poor, knew of a contraceptive method and 44.3% used one. Poverty would appear to encourage contraceptive use in rural environments and discourage its use in urban areas. It is, generally speaking, the wife who uses a contraceptive method, but male methods are becoming more popular with the rich. Four times out of five, it is a definitive contraception. Although the socio-economic variables are important determinants in the adoption of family planning, poverty and other economic characteristics cannot explain all the variations. (INDIA, CONTRACEPTIVE PRACTICE, POVERTY)
93.28.07 - English - H.N. RANGANATHAN and V.N. RAO
Maternal Health Care: Impact of Training, Supervision and Community Education
A research-action project has demonstrated that the use of maternal health services as well as their quality can be greatly improved through providing teaching and supervisory programmes for health officials and through educating the public about mother and child health services. The first effects can be felt in the registration of cases of pre-natal problems, in the elementary care coverage of pregnant women, in the detection of high-risk cases and their orientation towards the appropriate medical departments. But even more efforts are required if results on home visits, the use of consultations and home-weighing of babies are to be obtained. (INDIA, MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH, HEALTH EDUCATION, PARAMEDICAL PERSONNEL)
93.28.08 - English - M. Mazharul ISLAM and H.T. Abdullah KHAN
Pattern of Coital Frequency in Rural Bangladesh
The results of a survey on coital frequency in Bangladesh disprove the (Western) foregone conclusion of a higher frequency in poor populations. The low frequency observed can be due to errors in survey declarations or again, to lack of intimacy, periods of abstinence, some male prejudice, a tradition of moderation or female inhibition with regard to sexuality. The rarity of contraceptive use no doubt also has a role to play, as does perhaps the physical fatigue after long hard days spent working in the fields. (BANGLADESH, COITAL FREQUENCY)
93.28.09 - English - G.D. PANDEY and R.S. TIWARY
Socio-Cultural Characteristics and Health-Seeking Behaviour of the Hill Korwas
The Hill Korwas are one of the most primitive tribes in Madhya Pradesh who are both very poor and, in general, illiterate. They pay more attention to their superstitions than they do to modern medicine and do not gain any advantage from the available medical infrastructure, both through lack of economic resources and lack of confidence. The authors suggest a wide-ranging educational programme to bring them round to using the region's medical services. (INDIA, ETHNIC GROUPS, HEALTH, TRADITIONAL MEDICINE)
93.28.10 - English - R.G. MITRA
Fertility and Its Determinants: Mizoram
Using the data from the 1981 census, the author develops a detailed analysis of fertility and its determinants in Mizoram, in the aim of identifying the factors which should be covered by a policy attempting to control population growth. These priority factors are: improvement of the social welfare system, implication of local, religious and civil authorities, children's education, improvement of child health programmes, propaganda in favour of maternal breastfeeding, the development of a database on population and data from the 1981 census, the author develops a detailed analysis of fertility and its determinants in Mizoram, in the aim of identifying the factors which should be covered by a policy attempting to control population growth. These priority factors are: improvement of the social welfare system, implication of local, religious and civil authorities, children's education, improvement of child health programmes, propaganda in favour of maternal breastfeeding, the development of a database on population and population movement and demographic research. (INDIA, FERTILITY RATE, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS)
1993 - VOLUME 39, NUMBER 3
93.28.11 - English - P.N. ANANDALAKSHMY, P.P. TALWAR, K. BUCKSHEE and V. HINGORANI
Demographic, Socio-Economic and Medical Factors Affecting Maternal Mortality - An Indian Experience
A total of 252 cases of maternal mortality which occurred in a hospital from 1983 to 1985 were associated with 252 control cases (mothers who survived) who demonstrated the same characteristics of age, parity and use of prenatal care. This comparison highlighted the main determinants of maternal mortality and the authors conclude that there is an urgent need for women to be made aware of, and educated in, matters of feeding, prenatal care and birth spacing. (INDIA, MATERNAL MORTALITY, MORTALITY DETERMINANTS)
93.28.12 - English - P.K. BABURAJAN and R.K. VERMA
Psycho-Social Determinants of Contraceptive Initiation in India
Believing it necessary to increase the proportion of females using contraception, the authors study the psycho-social determinants which a propaganda campaign should highlight in order to determine the women who should adopt a contraceptive method in the very first stages of their married life. To this end, they have systematically compared, in a sample, the women who adopted contraception very early (27%) and those who waited till later (73%). Early contraceptive use is associated with, amongst other things, high levels of education and income, delayed marriage, knowledge of family planning, the choice of a small family, dialogue between spouses and characteristics specific to the women such as ambition, rationality or "a modern vision of life". (INDIA, CONTRACEPTIVE PREVALENCE, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY)
93.28.13 - English - J. KHANDEKAR, S. DWIVEDI, M. BHATTACHARYA, G. SINGH, P.L. JOSHI and B. RAJ
Childbirth Practices Among Women in Slum Areas
A sample of 661 females in slum suburbs of Allahabad was interviewed about their childbirth practices. Most of these women - who are of very low social status - are illiterate. In general, they prefer to give birth in the presence of a local midwife, although the latter take no hygiene precautions. The authors therefore conclude that it is necessary to train these traditional midwives in prophylactic childbirth techniques and in the detection of high-risk mothers who require the help of a physician. (INDIA, LOW CLASS, CHILDBIRTH, TRAINED MIDWIVES)
93.28.14 - English - N. DHANALAKSHMI and M.S.R. MURTHY
Environmental Correlates of Child Morbidity in Andhra Pradesh
The sanitary system of dwellings and their neighbourhoods is made up of numerous components which are directly associated with child morbidity: number of residents, aeration, management of clean water, waste water and waste in general, kitchen cleanliness and individual hygiene. Comparing two samples of mothers of children aged under five, one in an often flooded poor region and the other in a developed agricultural region, has made the measurement of these links possible. (INDIA, MORBIDITY, MATERNAL AND CHILD HEALTH, ENVIRONMENT, HYGIENE)
93.28.15 - English - M. Muzibur RAHMAN, M. KABIR and M.A. SALAM
The Influence of Socio-Economic Characteristics on Subsequent Infant and Child Mortality
This article provides empirical results on the relationship between the demographic and socio-economic characteristics of mothers and the survival chances of their children of birth order 2 and above, depending on the survival of the previous child. The death of the previous child (particularly at the neonatal stage) is a very important predictor of the neonatal, post-neonatal and infant mortality of the next child. The risks would appear to lessen when the mother is older and the intervals longer. The authors have also noted the expected effects of given variables such as dwelling size and the mother's education level. (INDIA, INFANT MORTALITY, BIRTH ORDER, MORTALITY DETERMINANTS)
93.28.16 - English - S.C. SIDRAMSHETTAR
The Small Family Norm: A Sociological Study of Dual Earner Couples
An urban sample of 100 couples with at least one child and in which both spouses are salaried workers was studied. Both husband and wife were interviewed separately on the subject of family size. The author observed that the restrictions of urban life and other aspects of "modernisation" lead a large majority of the couples interviewed to state themselves in favour of the small family norm, thereby breaking with traditional values. And yet, the disdain in which female sterility and male impotence have always been held does not appear to have been dissipated by this trend towards modernity: in the same way, the traditional preference for sons is still as strong, even among the most "modern" couples. (INDIA, TWO-INCOME HOUSEHOLD, DESIRED FAMILY SIZE, MODERNIZATION)
93.28.17 - English - K. Vijayanthi MALA and K. Bharathi KUMARI
Towards a Multi-Dimensional Assessment of Alienation in a Group of Working Women
A sample of 132 women working in a university and in a hospital was divided into two sub-groups: the members of the liberal professions and the workers, and were submitted to a classical test to measure the degree of alienation (Ray scale). The women in the liberal professions were more likely to suffer from social alienation than the workers and it is the husband's occupation which is the top determinant of alienation of working women. (INDIA, FEMALE STATUS, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY)
93.28.18 - English - G. Rama RAO, K. MOULASHA and S. SUREENDER
Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Family Planning Among Fishermen in Tamil Nadu
The authors interviewed the spouses of 185 fishermen in Tamil Nadu, aged from 15 to 49 and observed a high level of family planning knowledge as well as a generally very favourable attitude. But only 38% of them practised one or other method of birth control and the preferred methods were abstinence and female sterilisation. The authors recommend an information campaign which would direct women towards less radical contraceptive means and towards adopting family planning at the very outset of their married lives. (INDIA, FISHERMEN, KNOWLEDGE OF CONTRACEPTIVES, CONTRACEPTIVE USAGE)
93.28.19 - English - W. Indralal DE SILVA
Family Formation: Socio-Cultural Differentials in Age at First Marriage in Sri Lanka
The 1982 Survey on Contraceptive Prevalence in Sri Lanka, the last survey of its kind covering the country as a whole, covered 4,500 non-single women aged from 15 to 49. It is used here to evaluate the effect of given socio-cultural variables on age at marriage. More than the place of residence, ethnic group or religion, it is the level of education which determines the considerable differences in female age at marriage: illiterates get married, on average, at 18 while the better educated marry at 22. Improved education for girls should thus progressively push their average age at marriage back and, consequently, contribute to the reduction in fertility which the government would like. (SRI LANKA, AGE AT MARRIAGE, LEVELS OF EDUCATION, FERTILITY DECLINE)
Back to home page