Abstract
Normal fertility follows a set of biological, social and cultural rules and regulations; controlled fertility, however, follows the rules and regulations of the family. The present study was therefore conducted to identify the factors influencing the first childbearing decision-making in women living in Shahroud, Iran, in 2014. The present descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted on 300 randomly-selected pregnant women admitted to health centers in Shahroud. The utilized data collection tools included a demographic and obstetrics questionnaire, a quality of life questionnaire, the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale, the Snyder Hope Scale and the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support. Data were analyzed in SPSS-17 and the direct or inverse effects of the factors influencing the first childbearing decision-making were examined in AMOS-20. The results obtained revealed marital age to have the highest degree of correlation with the first childbearing decision-making in women (r=0.90 and P<0.001).Once the statistically insignificant paths were eliminated, marital age was found to have the highest direct effect (β=0.63) on the first childbearing decision-making, followed by other factors including economic status (β=0.07), hopefulness (β=-0.07) and quality of life (β=-0.05). The inverse effects of marital age (β=0.01), social support (β= -0.01) and quality of life (β=-0.01) on the first childbearing decision-making were found to be significant in women (P<0.001). Many factors are involved in the process of childbearing decision-making, including individual factors (marital age, hopefulness and quality of life), familial factors (marital satisfaction) and social factors (social support). Healthcare institutions and policymakers should adopt strategies that can help couples bear their desired number of children within an appropriate time frame through ameliorating their social, economic and familial conditions.
Highlights
One of the most significant demographic changes of the past 3 decades is the sharp decrease in fertility throughout the world, especially in developing countries
The results obtained revealed marital age to have the highest degree of correlation with the first childbearing decision-making in women (r=0.90 and P
Many factors are involved in the process of childbearing decision-making, including individual factors, familial factors and social factors
Summary
One of the most significant demographic changes of the past 3 decades is the sharp decrease in fertility throughout the world, especially in developing countries. In Iran, the period of fertility transition corresponds to economic, social and traditional changes in families, which have altered reproductive behaviors related to marriage and childbearing and fertility trends as a result. In line with these changes, the total fertility rate per woman dropped to 1.8 in 2009 from 7.7 in 1966 (Aghajanian & Mehryar, 1999; Abbasi-Shavazi et al, 2009). Normal fertility follows a set of biological, social and cultural rules and regulations; controlled fertility, follows the rules and regulations of the family, which constitute the most influential factor in the mean birth rate of couples (Hosseinzadeh et al, 2010). The present study was conducted to identify the factors influencing the first childbearing decision-making in women living in Shahroud, Iran, in 2014
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