Birth Seasonality as a Response to a Changing Rural Environment (Kayes Region, Mali)

Abstract

Birth seasonality responds to a variety of environmental and socio-cultural factors. The present study was carried out to quantify the trends in seasonal variation in birth rate in seven districts in the Kayes region of Mali between 2007 and 2010 and to attempt to link climatic- and agricultural-cycle-dependent factors with birth seasonality. Lagged regression analysis based on time series analysis techniques was used to investigate seasonality of births registered in health facilities and its association with climate, labour migration, agriculture workload, malaria infection and food supply. There was a clear bimodal pattern in month-to-month institutional delivery rate variation, and this seasonal pattern repeated each year over the study period. The data showed that rates of health-facility-attended deliveries were high at the end of the dry season (April-June), fell rapidly in the first half of the rainy season, rose again during the later part of the rainy season (August-October) and fell to their lowest values after the rains. The first peak observed in spring (April-June) corresponded to conception nine months earlier during the rainy season (between July and September), while the second peak observed in the third quarter of the year (August-October) corresponded with conception at the beginning of the dry season right after the harvest period (between November and January). Between these peaks was an abrupt trough in July. The findings support a causal process through which climate change influences conception/birth seasonality in two direct and indirect pathways. On one side climate change influences conception/birth seasonality from the effects on fetal loss (changes in annual rainfall leading to changes in malaria incidence) and on the other side by affecting fecundability (changes in agricultural cycles leading to changes in food production, agricultural workload and socio-cultural events, which in turn influence energy balance and sexual behaviour). Labour migration, which is closely linked with the agricultural cycle, influences sexual intercourse and thus marital fertility. Finally, the model emphasizes an eco-systemic approach to the study of birth seasonality.

A qualitative investigation of childbearing and seasonal hunger in peri-urban Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso

“…Past research has examined the relationship between nutrition, agriculture, fecundity, and fertility levels, often from an anthropological and demographic perspective, and with a focus on questions of seasonality (e.g., Huss-Ashmore 1988; Bailey et al 1992; Ellison et al 1993; Dorélien 2016; Philibert 2013). The idea is that when childbearing women face seasonal food constraints, their reproductive outcomes change in response.…”

“…The idea is that when childbearing women face seasonal food constraints, their reproductive outcomes change in response. Bongaarts (1993) identifies six proximate determinants of birth seasonality that can be broadly categorized as either behavioral or biological (Panter-Brick 1996, Philibert et al 2013). Duration of postpartum infecundability, coital frequency, and age at marriage make up the behavioral components while the age at onset of sterility, intrauterine mortality, and conception failure are categorized as the biological components.…”

Most Scandinavians Are Born During Summer Time and Less Norwegians Are Born the First Quarter of the Year: A Study Comparing Scandinavian Birth Patterns 2000-2012

“…An Indian study ( Yadava, 1979 ) reported their maximum indices of deliveries in the months of August to October and lowest from April to June. In Africa, a study from Mali ( Philibert et al, 2013 ) showed that rates of health-facility-attended deliveries were high in April-June, then fell rapidly and rose again in August-October.…”

Intensity of Agricultural Workload and the Seasonality of Births in Italy

“…Finally, there is rainfall. Bronson (1995) argued that, especially in tropical subsistence societies, rain plays an important role in determining food availability and, thus, may influence birth seasonality through this channel (see also the more recent work carried out by Philibert et al 2013).…”