Fertility and childbearing practices in rural African community

This longitudinal, community based study was carried out to gain insight into factors which influence child bearing practices and fertility in a typical Yoruba village in S.W. Nigeria. Although fertility is shown to be on the decline in most developing countries, a relatively high fertility is still sustained in the rural areas of this country. Women start child bearing early and continue into advanced reproductive ages. Median age of the women who delivered in the 2 year study period was 24 years with peak fertility seen between ages 20-24 years. Seasonality of births was observed due to religion and the agricultural cycle. Unadjusted Total Fertility Rate (TFR) for 1993 was 8.83 and for 1994 was 8.47. This small decline in TFR was not significant (Paired t-test t = 1.3, p = 0.28). Traditional attitudes which favour high fertility are maintained because of ignorance about modern family planning methods, low child survival rates and the ingrained custom of using children as a source of help on the farms. In addition, children are still the major source of support in old age. It is recommended that in order to reduce National total fertility rate, attention be paid to the rural areas where the majority of the people reside. Potential modifiable factors include improving child survival rates, increasing contraceptive awareness and education and a general improvement in the socio-economic conditions of the rural areas of this country.