Family Formation Patterns and Child Mortality in Mexico

Abstract

The aim of the present project was to determine the effects of variations in the family formation patterns of Mexican women on late fetal and child mortality. The study consisted of a secondary analysis of the National Fertility and Health Survey conducted in 1987. The study population included 13216 births occurring in the 15 years prior to the survey. Hobcrafts typology of the family formation patterns was adopted and adapted. Variations in the family formation patterns and in their relationship with late fetal neonatal postneonatal infant and child mortality were analyzed over time and across a number of social variables. Contingency tables and logistic regression techniques were employed for the bivariate and multivariate analyses respectively. The following are the main conclusions of the study: 1) the groups with the highest late fetal mortality rates are poorly-spaced births to 20-34 year old women with a medium or fast reproductive pace and births to older women age 35 years of age and above; 2) infant mortality among births to teenage mothers is higher than average only if poorly-spaced. This seems to reflect the sociocultural disadvantages of this group of mothers; 3) infant mortality rates of births to mothers ages 20-34 years increase as the reproductive pace changes from slow to medium to fast and birth spacing with the previous sibling changes from more than 24 months to fewer months; 4) births to women age 35 or above have an infant mortality rate equal to the population average; 5) the estimated effects of childhood mortality reveal striking similarity with those of infant mortality. (Authors modified).