Dynamics And Determinants Of Birth Spacing In India

Birth spacing is an important determinant of the high fertility populations and has a strong bearing on maternal and infant health. The birth interval is composed of three major components namely postpartum amenorrhoea (PPA), waiting time to conception and gestation. To manage the high fertility in India, the present study is aimed to investigate the differential pattern of duration of birth interval components with respect to various socio demographic, child mortality, family planning services etc. The data for this analysis was taken from National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4), provides information on population, health and nutrition for India and each State / Union territory. It gathered information from 601,509 households from overall India. Cox’ regression explores infant mortality, lactation, use of contraceptive devices, son preference and religion are found significant (P < 0.01) factors on the dynamics of birth interval components After adjustment of the effects of other explanatory variables, duration of breast feeding (P < 0.01), infant mortality (P < 0.01) and family income (P < 0.05) are found to have their significant impacts on the variation of PPA whereas death of previous child in infancy (P < 0.01), sex of previous child (P < 0.05), lactation (P < 0.01), education of mother (P < 0.05), and use of effective contraceptives have are found to be significant factors influencing the duration of waiting time to conception. Among the determinants, infant mortality, lactation and religion have significant impacts on both duration variables in the Cox’s stepwise regression models. To control the growth of population, birth spacing must be maintained.