Age at First Conception and its Determinants of Ever-Married Women in Bangladesh

Mohammad Manjur Alam

doi:10.18535/ijsrm/v9i8.sh03

Abstract

Age at first conception is an important part of the reproductive process that identifies the level of fecundability and indicative fertility during the early stages of marriage. This study explores the age at first conception and its determinants of ever-married women in Bangladesh by extracting the recent Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys (BDHS 2017) data. Descriptive statistics, ANOVA, chi-square tests, and binary logistic regression analysis were carried out to analyze data. Overall, the mean age at first conception of Bangladeshi women is 17.82 ± 3.29 years with significant variations by different socio-demographic, cultural, and behavioral factors. Bivariate analysis of chi-square tests shows that all the independent variables have a significant effect on age at first conception. The finding of the binary logistic regression analysis revealed that respondents' current age, age at first cohabitation, respondents' education, and partners' education are the most important determinants of age at first conception in Bangladesh. Moreover, secondary (OR= 0.743, 95% CI = 0.622- 0.886, P < 0.01) and higher educated women (OR= 0.838, 95% CI = 0.710- 0.989, P < 0.05) were respectively less likely to having first conception at age above 17.25 years, compared to no educated women. Thus, to increase the age at the first conception and reduce the level of fertility, it is necessary to increase the age at the first marriage of the respondents and the level of education for both partners.

Highlights

The age at which a woman becomes pregnant for the first time is called the age at first conception
The present study shows that the mean age at first conception is 15.51 (SD 2.32) years among the women whose age at first cohabitation is less and equal 14 years followed by 17.27 (SD 2.04) and 20.53(SD 3.03) years for age at first cohabitation [15,16] years and greater than 17 years respectively
Our study shows that the mean age at conception is high among the respondents whose spousal age difference is less than six years (i.e., 18.33 years)

Summary

Introduction

The age at which a woman becomes pregnant for the first time is called the age at first conception. The most exciting event of their conjugal life is the first conception. Both family members are eagerly waiting for such an event. It is important to explore the age at first conception in a traditional Bangladeshi society as it plays an important role in determining a woman's reproductive life and fertility. A woman's reproductive span begins with effective marriage and the timing of the first conception. As such marriage marks the beginning of the period of probable conception and childbearing. It is measured the major determinant of fertility. Previous studies have explored that in South Asia, about 60% of women start their conjugal life at the age of 18 and one fourth is married get married by the age of 15 (Mehra & Agrawal, 2004), and the highest recorded teenaged pregnancy rate is in Bangladesh (35%) followed by India (21%)

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Conclusion