This paper reviews data derived from a detailed questionnaire of fertility history administered to 1076 migrant and indigenous urban resident, ever-married women and mothers in their reproductive ages (14-49 years) during the course of a survey of migrant and non-migrant household in Benin City. Individual characteristics that have been identified as affecting fertility, such as age at, and duration of marriage, occupation and educational status are examined. The results indicate that 17.5% of the women marry before the age of 15, and 94% are married by 24 years of age. On the whole, monogamous and polygamous marriages are fairly stable among women of all groups; 91.9% and 94.5% of marriages among urban women in Western Nigeria were unbroken at the time of survey in 1969. Monogamy prevails, but women with no formal education are more likely to be polygamous than women with some formal education. 62.9% of the sample population have had primary education and higher although indigenous urban women tend to have obtained higher education. Urban fertility is high Nigeria. The total fertility rate for Benin is 7.860 and the average number of children is 3.406 per women respectively. The estimated annual rate of growth for Benin is 8.6, which reflects a faster rate of growth than other urban centers. In keeping with previous findings, fertility levels of migrant women were found to be higher than those of urban dwellers. However, the issue of higher rural versus higher urban fertility is still unresolved, and further investigation is needed.
This paper presents a short analysis of some of the factors affecting birthweight in Southeastern Nigeria. Although the literature review reveals that the factors affecting birthweight have been extensively and systematically investigated, this study involves the greatest number of live births (28,00) in comparison with any previous study based on Nigerian data. The average weight of child was calculated by parity, age of mother, and father's occupation. These 3 factors, in addition to the child's sex, all significantly affected birthweight. The results indicated that: 1) Males are generally heavier than females at birth. 2) Mean weight at birth tends to be low for low and high parities, the highest mean weights at birth being recorded between parities 3 and 6. 3) The highest mean weight at birth was recorded for children born to women aged 25-29 years. 4) The lowest mean weight at birth was recorded for children born to farmers, while the highest mean weight at birth was to children of wage earners. Children of traders had an average weight at birth. These factors were in keeping with the father's socioeconomic status. Overall, the present study has yielded results which are in agreement with experience in other parts of the world.
By reanalyzing the data from the 1965-66 rural demographic survey in Nigeria this paper provides new and better estimates of fertility parameters for the various regions of Nigeria than previous estimates. The original analysis of that is criticized for excluding a large body of data from the analysis, as well as making unwarranted adjustments of estimates of fertility and crude birth rates. The 1971-73 KAP survey was also evaluated. There were doubts concerning the accuracy of the KAP survey, as under-reporting of mortality and age misreporting had occurred. The methods of analysis used in this study were called, "the c(x), 1(x) method of stable population. A model stable population can be defined by at least 2 parameters: the index of the recorded age distribution, c(x), and mortality level. A detailed presentation and rational of the present analysis is provided. The results indicate that fertility levels are rising. Factors affecting fertility are examined, such as length of lactation, postpartum abstinence and age of marriage, which is in turn affected by level of education. It is suggested that the high fertility trend in Nigeria may just be a phase identical to the 'bulge' in fertility which some European countries experienced in their demographic history.
