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Natural fertility in northeastern Mexico
R M Cerda-Flores1, M I Dávila-Rodríguez
1Departamento de Genética de Poblaciones, Centro de Investigación Biomédica del Noreste (CIBIN), Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social (IMSS), Administración de Correos #4, Apdo. Postal #20, 64720 Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico. ricardocerda@hotmail.com
Archives of Medical Research
|March 21, 2001
Summary
Fertility in Mexican women over 45 was primarily influenced by age at marriage, not family planning. This study analyzed completed family size and its determinants before widespread family planning programs.
Area of Science:
- Demography
- Human Reproduction
- Sociology
Background:
- Investigated fertility patterns in Mexican women aged 45 and above in Nuevo León.
- Examined completed family size distribution against the negative binomial model.
- Assessed fertility associations with ten demographic and socioeconomic variables.
Purpose of the Study:
- To describe fertility characteristics of a specific Mexican population.
- To test the negative binomial distribution for completed family size.
- To identify factors influencing fertility before family planning interventions.
Main Methods:
- Interviewed 410 women from seven medical units.
- Grouped participants by birth year and grandparental birthplace (Northeastern Mexico vs. outside).
- Applied negative binomial distribution analysis and multiple linear regression.
Main Results:
- Completed fertility was significantly associated only with age at marriage.
- Fertility patterns resembled those in Venezuelan and Brazilian populations from the mid-20th century.
- No other tested variables showed a significant association with fertility.
Conclusions:
- Fertility was predominantly shaped by natural selection forces prior to global family planning initiatives.
- Age at marriage emerged as the key determinant of completed family size in this cohort.
- Findings provide insights into pre-intervention fertility dynamics.