[Download] "Why is Kenya's Fertility Rate Still High? HIV Epidemic May be a Factor (Digests)" by International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health # eBook PDF Kindle ePub Free

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eBook details

• Title: Why is Kenya's Fertility Rate Still High? HIV Epidemic May be a Factor (Digests)
• Author : International Perspectives on Sexual and Reproductive Health
• Release Date : January 01, 2010
• Genre: Family & Relationships,Books,Nonfiction,Health, Mind & Body,Health & Fitness,
• Pages : * pages
• Size : 59 KB

Description

The HIV epidemic may have contributed to the lack of decline in Kenya's fertility rates, primarily through its associations with elevated child mortality and reduced duration of breast-feeding, according to an analysis of Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) data. (1) Although having AIDS was associated with reduced levels of fertility, women were less likely to want to stop childbearing and more likely to have had a recent birth if a young child of theirs had died--a common scenario in AIDS-ravaged areas. Moreover, the mean duration of breast-feeding in a community was inversely associated with recent childbearing, suggesting that women who opted not to breast-feed because of fears of mother-to-child HIV transmission were putting themselves at increased risk for pregnancy. According to the 2003 DHS, Kenya's fertility rate was about five births per woman, indicating that the decline in fertility that occurred through the mid-1990s had stalled. The prevalence of HIV was also high-about 7% overall, and nearly 9% among women, in 2003. In principle, high HIV prevalence might contribute to lower fertility by discouraging sexual activity and spurring condom use, as well as through various biological mechanisms (rates of fetal loss and infertility are elevated among women with AIDS). However, the epidemic may help keep fertility rates high because couples might choose to have extra children (to replace those who have died of AIDS or as insurance against losing future children). Moreover, both infected women and those who do not know their HIV status--which in Kenya includes most women--may refrain from breast-feeding to avoid transmitting the virus to their infants, and thus may be at increased risk for pregnancy because they do not benefit from breast-feeding's contraceptive effects.

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