Abstract
BackgroundMaternity histories provide a means of estimating fertility and mortality from surveys.MethodsThe present analysis compares two types of maternity histories—birth histories and pregnancy histories—in three respects: (1) completeness of live birth and infant death reporting; (2) accuracy of the time placement of live births and infant deaths; and (3) the degree to which reported versus actual total fertility measures differ. The analysis covers a 15-year time span and is based on two data sources from Matlab, Bangladesh: the 1994 Matlab Demographic and Health Survey and, as gold standard, the vital events data from Matlab’s Demographic Surveillance System.ResultsBoth histories are near perfect in live-birth completeness; however, pregnancy histories do better in the completeness and time accuracy of deaths during the first year of life.ConclusionsBirth or pregnancy histories can be used for fertility estimation, but pregnancy histories are advised for estimating infant mortality.
Highlights
Maternity histories provide a means of estimating fertility and mortality from surveys
Findings and Discussion The analysis was based on 1925 Matlab Demographic and Health Survey (MDHS) respondents (930 women in the birth history sample; 995 women in the pregnancy history sample) who were matched with their records in the Demographic Surveillance System (DSS) and who had at least one birth or pregnancy during the 15-year period before the 1994 MDHS (i.e., June 1979 to May 1994; Fig. 1)
Only the age difference was statistically significant. [We note that the Family Planning and Health Services project was begun in half of the Matlab DSS area in 1977 and led to striking reductions in fertility starting that year [26]
Summary
Maternity histories provide a means of estimating fertility and mortality from surveys. Results: Both histories are near perfect in live-birth completeness; pregnancy histories do better in the completeness and time accuracy of deaths during the first year of life. A forward history starts with a woman’s first birth or pregnancy and ends with her most recent. In the World Fertility Survey project carried out between 1974 and 1981, pregnancy histories were collected from representative samples of women in over 40 countries [1]. The DHS project has used birth histories in over 300 surveys in over 90 developing countries [2]. Maternal age heaping (percent of reported ages ending in 0 or 5)
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