The effects of improved child survival on family planning practice and fertility

The relationship between improvements in child survival, family planning, and fertility is viewed here as the outcome of a process of family building that evolves through distinct phases as the mortality transition progresses. The speed with which family building strategies evolve from "family building by fate" to "family building by design" and from "insurance" to "replacement" as child survival improves depends on the pattern (by age and causes of death) of mortality decline and the sociocultural context. While child survival improvements will not lead to compensatory declines in fertility when fate or replacement behavior govern family building, more than compensatory fertility declines can result when families shift to family building by design, which, in its initial phases, is manifested by so-called insurance behavior. A literature review supports these hypotheses and identifies family planning availability as a critical additional factor. These results provide strong support for an integrated approach to the delivery of health and family planning services.