Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-26T17:19:15.273Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

ESTIMATION OF BIRTHS AVERTED DUE TO BREAST-FEEDING AND INCREASES IN LEVELS OF CONTRACEPTION NEEDED TO SUBSTITUTE FOR BREAST-FEEDING

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  16 October 2003

STAN BECKER ,
SHEA RUTSTEIN  and
MIRIAM H. LABBOK
STAN BECKER
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA
SHEA RUTSTEIN
Affiliation:
Macro International, Calverton, MD, USA
MIRIAM H. LABBOK
Affiliation:
UNICEF, New York, NY, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

After contraceptive use, breast-feeding duration is the major determinant of the birth interval length. Three methods of estimating births averted by breast-feeding, and the increase in contraceptive use needed to substitute for breast-feeding, are presented. Method 1 simply utilizes Bongaarts’ Ci, and the other two are based on mean birth intervals with and without breast-feeding. Estimates for each method are derived for six countries with DHS surveys from the mid-1990s: Burkina Faso, Uganda, India, Indonesia, Brazil and Peru. The estimated percentage of additional births that would occur if there were no breast-feeding ranged from 1–4% in Brazil to about 50% in Burkina Faso and Uganda, reflecting very low breast-feeding in Brazil and very high levels in the sub-Saharan African nations. Strengths and limitations of the three methods are considered.

Type
Regular Articles
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , October 2003 , pp. 559 - 574
Copyright
© 2003 Cambridge University Press

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)