Marriage to first birth interval in Nigeria: analysis of the roles of social-demographic and cultural factors

Abstract

Marriage to first birth interval is used as a measure of the fertility rate of married women and it is known to be influenced by some factors. In this paper, we studied the effect of various socio-demographic and cultural factors on the interval between marriage and first birth in Nigeria using the 2018 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey data. The analysis was done using the accelerated failure time (AFT) model and the Kaplan-Meier plot. The result showed that on the average, the interval of marriage to first birth is 23.90 months. It means that it takes a Nigerian couple about 2 years (24 months) to give birth to their first child. The results showed that women who married early have longer first birth interval than those that married late. Muslims have longer first birth interval than Christians. Women from North East, North West and South South have longer first birth interval than women in North Central while those from South West have shorter first birth interval than those from North Central. Residence has no statistical significant effect at 0.05 alpha level on the marriage to first birth interval. Women with primary and secondary education have shorter first birth interval than women with no education while the husband's education has no statistical significant effect at 0.05 alpha level on the first birth interval. Women with early first sexual intercourse have shorter first birth interval than those with late first sexual while women that have ever used traditional and modern contraceptive method have shorter first birth interval than women that have not used any contraceptive method. There should be targeted orientation on sexual and reproductive matters to those with higher first birth interval so that desirable conditions would be yielded by controlling these groups. KeywordsAccelerated failure time model • First birth interval • Kaplan-Meier plot • Cox model • Socio-demographic and cultural factors

Marriage Pattern and Fertility in DKI Jakarta Province

“…The study indicated that age at marriage was the main factor affecting the distance between the births of their first child. Other studies in several countries in Asia and Africa also show that women with older age at first marriage have a shorter first birth interval than women who marry at a younger age (Alam, 2015;Dommaraju, 2011;Gurmu & Etana, 2014;Kamal & Pervaiz, 2013;Obite et al, 2021;Xu, 2019). Socioeconomic characteristics of the population in DKI Jakarta Province may also be related to the first birth interval.…”

“…Socioeconomic characteristics of the population in DKI Jakarta Province may also be related to the first birth interval. The study conducted by Hidayat et al (2014) in Indonesia; Rahman et al (2013) in Bangladesh; Gurmu and Etana (2014) in Ethiopia, Obite et al (2021) in Nigeria, and Islam (2017) in Oman revealed a relationship between socioeconomic factors such as place of residence, education, wealth and work with the first birth interval. Women living in urban areas with higher socioeconomic status tend to have shorter first birth intervals.…”

Childbearing Probabilities during the First Years of the Marriage among Egyptian Women using Survival Analysis Techniques

“…Furthermore, a study by (Obite, Bartholomew, Nwosu, Anyiam, & Aminu, 2021) , about the effect of various socio-demographic and cultural factors on the interval between marriage and first birth in Nigeria revealed that the interval of marriage to first birth is 23.90 months. Women who married early, and muslims have longer first birth interval.…”