Fertility Patterns Research Articles

Effects of chemical fertilizer reduction and organic fertilizer substitution on yield and quality of Saposhnikovia divaricata

To explore the suitable fertilizing pattern for Saposhnikovia divaricata in the genuine producing area, a field trial was carried out to investigate the changes in the yield and quality of medicinal materials and soil in different fertilization patterns, such as organic fertilizer substitution(organic fertilizer+NPK fertilizer) and chemical fertilizer reduction(organic fertilizer+NPK fertilizer decrement and organic fertilizer+NPK fertilizer decrement+soil conditioner). The comprehensive analysis of all treatments was based on the medicine quality evaluation data set and soil quality evaluation data set, respectively, by CRITIC weight method. The results showed that(1) the yield of S. divaricate increased by 4.93%-12.67% under the organic fertilizer substitution mode, and the yield increased by 44.43% under the treatment of chemical fertilizer reduction YHT15, which was higher than that of the organic fertilizer substitution mode.(2) The quality of S. divaricate under the two fertilization modes was superior to the standard in the Chinese Pharmacopoeia, and the application of biochar was helpful to improve the quality of S. divaricate quality, with an increase of 82.83%-181.54%. CRITIC method analysis showed that fertilization treatments with high comprehensive scores were YHT15, YH30, and YH15.(3) Soil quality under the two fertilization modes was higher than that under the control. The fertilization treatments with higher comprehensive scores of soil quality were YHT15, YHT30, and YHT. The fertilization mode of adding biochar as soil conditioner, applying an appropriate amount of organic fertilizer, and reducing part of chemical fertilizer is the appropriate way to develop ecological plantation of S. divaricata in the Baicheng area in the western Jilin province. The specific fertilization mode is as follows. The basic fertilizer was 361 kg·hm~(-2) superphosphate+110 kg·hm~(-2) potassium sulfate+82 kg·hm~(-2) organic fertilizer+10 000 kg·hm~(-2) rice husk biochar, and urea was applied as top fertilizer three times, 29, 29, and 20 kg·hm~(-2), respectively.

Criminal justice involvement, transition to fatherhood, and the demographic foundation of the intergenerational transmission of crime

Most analyses of the intergenerational transmission of criminal justice contacts compare outcomes of the second generation to the criminal history of the first generation. Ignoring the demographic process underlying transmission introduces selection bias into estimates insofar as the first generation's criminal history affects the family formation and the probability of parenthood. I study how differential selection into fatherhood across criminal histories may affect prospective transmission of criminal justice convictions. I use administrative data on the complete fertility patterns and criminal justice history all Danish men born during 1965–1973 and retrospective odds-ratio estimates of intergenerational transmission of criminal justice contacts to estimate prospective transmission of crime and the impact of differential fertility on cohort criminal justice involvement. Seriousness of criminal justice involvement is associated with earlier transition to fatherhood but ultimately higher levels of childlessness. The findings suggest that the existing retrospective estimates of the intergenerational transmission of criminal justice contacts overestimate the population level dynastic transmission. Ignoring differential fertility across criminal justice history leads to upward-biased estimates of how criminal justice involvement is maintained across generations when using retrospective sources. Population-level description of fertility trends has substantial implication for theoretical understanding of how transmission of offending occurs at the population level.

Immediate changes in soil chemical and biological fertility and short-term changes in soil biological activity following bench terrace construction for eucalypt reforestation

Over the last decades, eucalypt plantations have increasingly involved intensive soil mobilization by heavy machinery. In north-central Portugal, bench terracing with bulldozers has become a common practice for eucalypt re-/afforestation. Its impacts on soil properties and functions, however, have received little research attention so far.The present study aimed to address the changes in topsoil fertility from immediately before to immediately after the construction of terraces. This was done for two contrasting micro-sites (tree-patch and inter-patch). Topsoil fertility was characterized in terms of both total and labile carbon and nitrogen as well as available phosphorous. In addition, this study aimed to assess the short-term impacts of terracing on soil respiration, as an indicator of soil biological activity. Soil respiration was monitored at monthly intervals during the first year following terracing at the terraced as well as at a nearby, non-terraced eucalypt plantation.The construction of bench terraces led to a significant immediate reduction in topsoil contents of total and labile carbon and nitrogen as well as available phosphorus. The reductions were inferred to result from the mixing of the A, B, C and R horizons, in combination with a priming effect due to soil aeration and resulting exposure of carbon and nitrogen compounds to soil micro-organisms. Bench terrace construction furthermore increased spatial heterogeneity in topsoil fertility, turning differences in carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus contents between tree and inter-patches significant immediately afterwards. Likewise, soil respiration tended to be significantly different between tree-patches and inter-patches at the terraced site but not between tree-patches and inter-patches at the neighbouring non-terraced site. These short-term impacts of bench terracing on the spatial patterns in soil respiration are likely to reflect its immediate impacts on the spatial patterns in soil fertility. The present findings plainly justified further research on the medium and long-terms« impacts of bench terracing on eucalypt soil properties and functions.

Childbearing: The First Birth Interval and Its Determinants in the Employees of Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Iran, 2018 - 2021

Background: Childbearing is a major concern in some countries around the world. The fertility pattern can be described by several indicators, such as the first birth interval (FBI). Objectives: This study aimed to predict the factors affecting the time of first birth. Methods: This cross-sectional study is part of a cohort study in Iran (2018-2021). The participants were 986 married women who were employees at the Tehran University of Medical Sciences (TUMS) and enrolled by the census method. A checklist was used to collect information. Data were described by mean, SD, frequency, and the effect of the variables on first birth and analyzed by the Cox analysis. Results: The adjusted hazard ratio (aHR) of the first birth was higher in the women with a high level of education than in those with a lower level of education (aHR = 0.29; 95% CI, 0.16 - 0.52; P < 0.001). Also, the hazard of earlier first birth tripled in women with higher occupation levels than those with lower occupation levels (aHR = 0.34; 95% CI, 0.59 - 0.96; P < 0.05). The hazard of first birth was lower in married women under 20 years than in those with other cohort age groups (aHR = 1.87; 95% CI, 1.09 - 1.89; P < 0.001). Conclusions: The age at first birth is significantly under the effect of women's education, occupation, marriage age, and wealth index.

Power relations and persistent low fertility among domestic workers in Latin America

Scholarly work on international chains of care have highlighted the stratified nature of reproductive work along the lines of gender, social class, race/ethnicity, and cross-national economic inequalities, particularly with regard to childbearing and childrearing tasks. Immigrant women from the global South are taking rising shares of domestic and care workloads in global North countries. Less attention has been devoted to national contexts, particularly from a quantitative perspective. Using large-scale nationally representative data for Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, this work presents a quantitative assessment of fertility and offspring mortality patterns among live-in domestic workers and their employers ( patronas) during the second half of the 20th century. Our results indicate that the historically low and delayed fertility of live-in domestic workers stems from the confluence of socioeconomic disadvantages throughout their life courses, the everyday mobility constraints they face, the physical control exerted over them by their employers, and the expropriation of their daily and life course time by middle- and upper-class families. These results underline the stratified nature of reproduction in the Latin American context and urge scholars, particularly those working with quantitative data, to re-center research questions around the social mechanisms, including power relations, underpinning unequal living conditions and their consequences for the stratification of reproductive tasks. We use this evidence to argue that the increasingly feminized nature of domestic work and the rising trends of socioeconomic inequalities within and between countries render the examination of intersectionality-defined minorities central for a deeper understanding of family change beyond the Latin American context.

The relationship between staying at home during the pandemic and the number of conceptions: A national panel data analysis.

hether the COVID-19 pandemic has changed fertility patterns is still an open question, as social isolation for long periods can impact the number of conceptions in many ways. We combine administrative data on all recent births in Brazil with daily data on individual location to estimate the relationship between the share of individuals staying close to their homes in each week and the number of conceptions in that same week, comparing municipalities with different social isolation patterns during the first semester of 2020. We find that conceptions unequivocally decline when social isolation increases. The effect is stronger for women who are between 21 and 25 years old and more educated, as well as for richer, larger, and more urban municipalities. COVID-19 is likely to change fertility across countries depending on the behavior of the population and on the lock-down measures implemented to fight the pandemic.

A Novel Macro Perspective on Family Dynamics: The Contribution of Partnership Contexts of Births to Cohort Fertility Rates

AbstractPartnering behavior is central to understanding fertility. Influential concepts, including singlehood, serial monogamy, and multiple‐partner fertility, are frequently used to analyze partnering and childbearing dynamics. These concepts are evoked to understand individual and population‐level patterns but are mainly analyzed at the individual level. We propose a measure for gauging the interplay between partnerships and childbearing at the population level, namely cohort fertility rates (CFR) as the sum of births under various partnership contexts. Surprisingly, demographers rarely measure and do not have a clear picture of the extent to which childbearing in different partnership contexts contributes to completed fertility. We analyze Finnish register data to decompose CFR into births across union status, union order, and reproductive partner order. Contrary to the discourse of partnering in the Nordics, births within first unions to first reproductive partners account for about two‐thirds of CFR. Births in higher‐order unions to first reproductive partners account for one‐fifth. Single births and births with higher‐order reproductive partners have a modest impact. This ranking holds across sex and educational level. We argue that the proposed measures offer a novel appraisal of population‐level implications of partnerships and childbearing dynamics and provide an opportunity to understand cross‐country variation in fertility patterns.

Seasonal patterns in newborns’ health: Quantifying the roles of climate, communicable disease, economic and social factors

Poor health at birth can have long-term consequences for children’s development. This paper analyses an important factor associated with health at birth: the time of year that the baby is born, and hence seasonal risks they were exposed to in utero. There are multiple potential explanations for seasonality in newborns’ health. Most previous research has examined these in isolation. We therefore do not know which explanations are most important – and hence which policy interventions would most effectively reduce the resulting early-life inequalities. In this paper, I use administrative data to estimate and compare the magnitudes of several seasonal risks, seeking to identify the most important drivers of seasonality in the Northern Territory of Australia, a large territory spanning tropical and arid climates and where newborn health varies dramatically with the seasons. I find that the most important explanations are heat exposure and disease prevalence. Seasonality in food prices and road accessibility have smaller effects on some outcomes. Seasonal fertility patterns, rainfall and humidity do not have statistically significant effects. I conclude that interventions that protect pregnant women from seasonal disease and heat exposure would likely improve newborn health in the Northern Territory, with potential long-term benefits for child development. It is likely that similar impacts would apply in other locations with tropical and arid climates, and that, without action, climate change will accentuate these risks.

Effects of long-term fertilization patterns on bacterial community structure and soil nutrients in dryland of yellow soil.

Understanding the responses of soil bacterial community to long-term fertilization in dryland of yellow soil could provide theoretical basis for establishing scientific fertilization system and cultivating healthy soil. Based on a 25-year long-term fertilization experiment on yellow soil, we collected soil samples from 0-20 cm layer under different fertilization treatments: no fertilization (CK), balanced application of N, P and K fertilizers (NPK), single application of organic fertilizer (M), combined application of constant organic and inorganic fertilizer (MNPK), and 1/2 organic fertilizer instead of 1/2 chemical fertilizer (MNP). Illumina MiSeq high-throughput sequencing technology was used to examine the effects of different fertilization patterns on soil bacterial community structure and soil nutrient content. The main driving factors of soil bacterial community were explored. The results showed that soil pH and organic matter content under treatments with organic fertilizer increased by 11.4%-13.5% and 28.8%-52.0%, respectively, compared to that under NPK treatment. Long-term fertilization did not affect soil bacterial α diversity, but significantly affected soil bacterial β diversity. Compared with CK and NPK treatment, treatments of M, MNP, and MNPK significantly changed soil bacterial community structure, and increased the relative abundance of Fusobacteria and Anaerobes. Four fertilization treatments increased the relative abundance of Bacteroidetes, and decreased the relative abundance of Actinomyces and Campylobacter, compared to CK. Soil pH was the most important factor affecting soil bacterial community structure. Fertilization-stimulated rare microbial taxa (Pumilomyces and Anaerobes) were more sensitive to changes in different environmental factors and were the main drivers of the formation of community versatility. In conclusion, organic fertilizer improved soil properties and fertility and changed soil bacterial community structure, which are conducive to cultivating healthy soil.

Changes in Policy, Changes in Fertility? An Examination of Changes in Fertility Aspirations in China

Fertility policies in China have changed substantially over recent years, with the intention of allowing individuals to bear more children and, thereby, to increase the total fertility rate. Using a sample of young adults, this study examines changes in fertility aspirations (the desired number of children, and the timing of first birth) across the three fertility policy periods (One-Child, Two-Child, and Three-Child). The results show that both young females and males increasingly prefer fewer children, and a later age at first birth. Both parental and peer factors are shown to significantly affect fertility aspirations, yet individual factors, such as gender attitudes and pronatal beliefs, yield stronger associations. The implications of the findings, along with the possible future of fertility patterns in China, are discussed with the developmental paradigm.

The Changing Trends and International Comparison of Chinese Women's Fertility Pattern under Low Fertility Level

Using data from Chinese national population censuses and 1% population sampling surveys from 2000 to 2020, by analyzing the age-specific fertility contribution rate curve, the Mean age at birth, the Standard deviation in Mean age at birth in different years, and comparing with the transformation process of fertility pattern in developed countries, this paper analyses the changing trends in Chinese women's fertility pattern under low fertility level. The results find that under low fertility level, the growth rate of Chinese women's Mean age at birth turns from fast to slow, the dispersion of fertility pattern rises first and then falls, and the distribution of child-bearing age is overall postponed. Compared with developed countries, the transformation of Chinese women's fertility pattern started late, changed quickly, and fluctuated greatly, from significantly lagging behind the general transformation process of fertility pattern in developed countries to rapidly approaching the average level of fertility pattern in developed countries. The adjustment of Chinese fertility policy has had a significant impact on the fertility pattern, leading to a turning point in the changing trends of the fertility pattern after 2010. With the development of economy and society and the continuous adjustment of fertility policy, the future fertility pattern of Chinese women may show trends that women's child-bearing age will continue to rise, but the dispersion of fertility pattern will slightly decline in fluctuations.

Ethnic Variation in Fertility Preferences in Sub-Saharan Africa

Research focusing on the role of ethnicity in shaping fertility preferences in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been largely restricted to small-scale studies within specific groups, regions or countries, which makes it difficult to gain insight into the overall effects of ethnicity on fertility in the region. This study provides a broad comparative analysis of the variation in preferred family size among ethnic groups covering the whole SSA subcontinent. The relationship between ethnicity and family size preferences is analyzed for 500,000 women from 181 ethnic groups in 24 sub-Saharan countries using data from the Demographic and Health Surveys and via multilevel Poisson regression analyses. Fertility preferences vary considerably across ethnic groups. Major factors explaining this are gender-related cultural characteristics and educational level at the group level. Interaction analyses showed that the size and direction of these effects are moderated by the women’s individual characteristics. The findings make clear that someone’s ethnic background should be taken into account when looking at fertility patterns and designing policies aimed at changing fertility patterns in the SSA context.

Descendants over 300 years: Marital fertility in five lineages in Qing China

AbstractThis paper studies the marital fertility—broadly defined as the ratio of live births to married women—of five Chinese lineages since the 17th century, mainly in the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). The results demonstrate a unique pattern of Chinese marital fertility by exploiting new genealogical data and studying more than 50,000 individuals from five lineages. Contrary to the conventional wisdom, the marital fertility rates in the period were moderate. On the other hand, in line with the classic ideas, this paper finds no clear indication of two fertility controls within marriages, parity‐dependent early stopping and longer spacing.

Combining multi-isotope technology, hydrochemical information, and MixSIAR model to identify and quantify nitrate sources of groundwater and surface water in a multi-land use region.

Accurate identification of nitrate(NO3-) sources is the premise of non-point source pollution control in watersheds. The multiple isotope techniques (δ15N-NO3-, δ18O-NO3-, δ2H-H2O, δ18O-H2O), combined with hydrochemistry characteristics, land use information, and Bayesian stable isotope mixing model (MixSIAR), were used to identify the sources and contributions of NO3- in the agricultural watershed of the upper Zihe River, China. A total of 43 groundwater (GW) and 7 surface water (SFW) samples were collected. The results showed that NO3- concentrations of 30.23% GW samples exceeded the WHO maximum permissible limit level, whereas SFW samples did not exceed the standard. The NO3- content of GW varied significantly among different land uses. The averaged GW NO3- content in livestock farms (LF) was the highest, followed by vegetable plots (VP), kiwifruit orchards (KF), croplands (CL), and woodlands (WL). Nitrification was the main transformation process of nitrogen, while denitrification was not significant. Hydrochemical analysis results combined with NO isotopes biplot showed that manure and sewage (M&S), NH4+ fertilizers (NHF), and soil organic nitrogen (SON) were the mixed sources of NO3-. The MixSIAR model summarized that M&S was the main NO3- contributor for the entire watershed, SFW, and GW. For contribution rates of sources in GW of different land use patterns, the main contributor in KF was M&S (contributing 59.00% on average), while M&S (46.70%) and SON (33.50%) contributed significantly to NO3- in CL. Combined with the traceability results and the situation that land use patterns are changing from CL to KF in this area, improving fertilization patterns and increasing manure use efficiency are necessary to reduce NO3- input. These research results will serve as a theoretical foundation for controlling NO3- pollution in the watershed and adjusting agricultural planting structures.

Pattern and trends of the total and age-specific fertility rates during 1990–2018 in Pakistan

BackgroundPakistan has an inadequate vital event registration system, leading to fewer than half of all births being registered, and this issue is further exacerbated by systematic recall errors and omission of births. This study aims to evaluate direct and indirect methods of fertility estimation to analyze the trends and patterns of fertility rates in Pakistan from 1990 to 2018.Design/methodology/approachIndirect methods are utilized in this study to evaluate the direction and extent of changes in total and age-specific fertility rates, and these findings are compared to direct estimates. The study draws data on livebirths from four waves of the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey that took place between 1990 and 2018. To ensure the quality of data, graphical methods and Whipple and Myers indices are employed. Additionally, the Brass Relational Gompertz model was used to analyze the data.ResultsThe Relational Gompertz model revealed that total fertility rates (TFRs) were higher than direct estimates by 0.4 children and age-specific fertility rates (ASFR) were higher for all age groups except the oldest. The difference was more significant among younger women aged 15–24, and less so for age groups 29 and above. The gap in estimated fertility between direct and indirect methods decreased with age.ConclusionThe indirect method is an invaluable tool in situations where direct measurement of fertility rates is challenging or impossible. By utilizing this method, policymakers can gain important insights into the fertility patterns and trends of a population, which is crucial for making informed decisions on fertility planning.

Stability and change in male fertility patterns by cognitive ability across 32 birth cohorts.

The relationship between cognitive ability (CA) and childbearing remains unsettled. Using Norwegian administrative registers with population coverage, we study how male lifetime fertility patterns differ across cognitive score groups, and how these changed across the 1950-1981 birth cohorts, covering a period characterized by rapid social and economic change. The analyses reveal systematic differences in fertility and fertility timing across CA groups, with high scoring males having delayed but ultimately higher fertility than lower scoring males. This pattern remains stable over time despite strong trends towards delayed and reduced fertility. The overall positive relationship between CA and fertility is primarily driven by high rates of childlessness in the lowest scoring group, with low-scoring males showing higher rates of parity progression at higher parities.

Fertility patterns and sex composition preferences in immigrant–native unions in Sweden

Intermarriage between immigrants and native individuals highlights the need to study childbearing as a joint decision of couples, because fertility preferences are likely to differ for the two partners involved. This study focuses on Sweden, where the majority population holds a relative preference for daughters but many immigrants come from countries with son preferences. Using longitudinal registers for the period 1990–2009, I analyse third-birth risks according to the sex composition of previous children and type of union. Doing so allows the study of preferences from behavioural data: couples with a daughter preference, for example, are more likely to have another child if their two previous children were boys. Results show that third-birth risks tend to be higher in unions between Swedish women and immigrant men, whereas unions between Swedish men and immigrant women tend to exhibit lower third-birth risks. Son preferences are rarely realized in intermarriages.

Study on the Delay of Marriage and Childbirth of Wenzhou Ouhai Population and its Influencing Factors

Marriage and fertility are important topics in population studies, where individuals establish families through marriage and carry on life through childbearing within the family. Marriage and fertility microscopically measure the life course of individuals and macroscopically reflect the marriage and childbearing attitudes and marriage and childbearing culture of population groups. Marriage and fertility patterns consisting of marriage and fertility patterns are usually described and analyzed through indicators such as average age at first marriage and average age at first childbirth. data from the seventh population census of ouhai district in 2020 and fertility data from the health commission show that the average age at first marriage for women in ouhai district is 27.68 years old and the average age at first childbirth is 28.57 years old, while the average age at first marriage and the average age at first childbirth for women in ouhai district at the sixth population census in 2010 was 23.11 years old and The average age of first marriage and first childbirth of women in Ouhai District was 23.11 years old and 25.40 years old respectively in the sixth census in 2010, an increase of 4.57 years and 3.17 years respectively in 10 years. The delay of marriage and childbirth of Ouhai District population is more significant. In order to understand the willingness of Ouhai population to marry and give birth, and to serve the long-term balanced development of the population, at the request of Ouhai District Bureau of Statistics, the research group carried out a special study on "the delayed characteristics of marriage and childbirth of Ouhai population and its influencing factors". Through a comprehensive and in-depth analysis and study of the sixth and seventh national census data and health commission fertility-related data, (the number of people in the census long form quoted in the article refers to the number of sample survey, not the actual number. The total number of people in Ouhai District in the seventh census is 963,238, and the number of people in the long-form sampling survey is 93,713, with a sampling ratio of 9.73%; the total number of people in Ouhai District in the sixth census is 996,870, and the number of people in the long-form sampling survey is 94,732, with a sampling ratio of 9.50%. (The two census sampling ratio is slightly different) The survey results show that: the Ouhai District citizens delayed marriage and childbirth, the willingness to have children is not high, by the education level, occupational factors, such as the influence of the larger, need to promote the implementation of existing policies at the same time, the system to introduce education, childbirth, parenting, housing, medical and other supporting measures to promote residents to marry at the right age, improve the willingness of residents to have children.

Trends and projections of ovarian cancer incidence in Hong Kong: A population-based study.

This study analyzed the incidence of ovarian cancer in Hong Kong and its association with age, calendar period and birth cohort, made projections through 2030, and attributed differences in new cancer cases to demographic and epidemiologic changes. Incidence data for ovarian cancer were obtained from the Hong Kong Cancer Registry. We employed the age-period-cohort modeling approach to investigate the association between ovarian cancer incidence and age in Hong Kong women, with particular emphasis on examining the changing trends of period and cohort effects on incidence. We projected the incidence of ovarian cancer in Hong Kong between 2018 and 2030 and attributed the rise in new cancer cases to epidemiologic and demographic shifts. Between 1990 and 2017, a total of 11 182 women were diagnosed with ovarian cancer in Hong Kong. Crude and age-standardized rates increased from 8.2 and 7.8 per 100 000 person-years to 16.3 and 11.5 per 100 000 person-years, respectively. New cases of ovarian cancer rose from 225 in 1990 to 645 in 2017. We observed an increased risk of ovarian cancer throughout the study period and in the post-1940 birth cohort. The projected incidence rate and new cases of ovarian cancer are expected to continue growing due to demographic and epidemiologic changes such as fertility patterns and lifestyle factors, with an estimated 981 cases in 2030. The period risk and cohort risk of ovarian cancer among Hong Kong women is increasing. Demographic and epidemiologic changes may continue to increase ovarian cancer incidence and new cases in Hong Kong.

Understanding the perspective of women who use the Billings Ovulation Method®: a focus group study

BackgroundThe Billings Ovulation Method®(the Billings Method) is a fertility awareness-based method (FABM) of family planning that relies on the observation of patterns of fertility and infertility based on vulvar sensations and appearance of discharges. This allows people to choose when to have intercourse, depending on whether they want to avoid or achieve pregnancy. Few studies have documented user experiences with FABMs.MethodsWe conducted four virtual focus groups (FGs) in May and June 2021 with current adult women users of the Billings Method. We asked questions about users' reasons for selecting a FABM and the Billings Method, positive experiences and challenges learning and using the Billings Method, and suggestions for improving the user experience. We performed a content analysis of the transcribed FGs to explore key themes from the discussions. COREQ guidelines were followed.ResultsTwenty women between the ages of 23 and 43 participated in the FGs. Reasons women described choosing a FABM included to follow religious beliefs, to avoid side effects of hormonal contraception, and/or to learn more about their bodies. Reasons for selecting the Billings Method included perceiving it as more precise and easier to understand than other FABMs, having a scientific basis, and being recommended by family and friends. Experiences related to learning and using the Billings Method were mainly positive. They included finding the method easy to use and learn, successfully using it to either postpone or achieve a pregnancy and increasing their awareness of their bodies. Challenges for participants included the inherent learning curve for identifying sensations at the vulva and the required periods of abstinence. Participants provided suggestions and recommendations for improving users' experience, including raising awareness of the Billings Method among healthcare providers.ConclusionsUsers of the Billings Method expressed an overall positive experience when learning and using it for family planning and body awareness. Some challenges were identified that offer opportunities to improve how the Billings Method is taught and delivered. These findings can also enhance healthcare providers' interactions with FABM users, including those of the Billings Method.