Tanzania HIV/AIDS and Malaria Indicator Survey ... - Measure DHS

infertility, 1 or the inability to bear children. Voluntary childlessness is rare in developing countrieslike Tanzania; married women in their late forties with no live births are usually women who areinvoluntarily childless. Comparison of the differences in the mean number of children ever born andsurviving reflects the cumulative effects of mortality during the period in which women have beenbearing children.The results in Table 4.4 show that the mean number of children ever born is 3.7 for currentlymarried women and 2.9 for all women. The mean number of children born increases with age,reflecting the natural family growth process. For instance, the mean number of children for all womenage 25-29 is 2.7 children, and for women age 35-39 it is 5.0 children. At the end of their reproductiveperiod, women have an average of 6.2 children.Table 4.4 Children ever born and livingPercent distribution of all women and currently married women by number of children ever born, mean number of children ever born, andmean number of living children, according to age group, Tanzania HMIS 2007-08Number of children ever bornAge 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10+ TotalALL WOMENNumberofwomenMeannumberofchildrenever bornMeannumberof livingchildren15-19 81.9 15.6 2.4 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 1,984 0.21 0.1920-24 21.8 32.9 31.1 11.6 1.9 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 1,746 1.41 1.2825-29 7.7 13.5 26.3 22.6 16.3 10.4 2.6 0.5 0.1 0.0 0.0 100.0 1,603 2.71 2.4130-34 4.6 8.0 12.5 19.9 18.0 17.0 10.0 7.2 2.3 0.4 0.0 100.0 1,346 3.83 3.3635-39 3.0 4.2 7.6 12.3 15.1 18.0 16.1 9.4 7.2 3.8 3.3 100.0 1,175 4.96 4.2740-44 2.0 6.4 5.3 8.0 12.1 12.9 13.4 13.1 10.1 7.1 9.6 100.0 774 5.71 4.7945-49 2.4 6.0 6.0 7.3 8.2 11.6 10.7 13.1 10.1 10.8 13.9 100.0 714 6.15 5.10Total 24.2 14.5 14.5 11.7 9.3 8.6 5.8 4.4 2.9 2.0 2.3 100.0 9,343 2.89 2.50CURRENTLY MARRIED WOMEN15-19 44.1 46.2 9.1 0.6 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 422 0.66 0.6120-24 9.1 33.3 38.7 15.6 2.5 0.8 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 100.0 1,191 1.72 1.5725-29 4.4 11.6 25.8 23.2 18.7 12.8 2.9 0.6 0.1 0.0 0.0 100.0 1,258 2.94 2.6430-34 2.8 5.8 11.1 18.7 19.6 19.5 11.5 7.9 2.7 0.6 0.0 100.0 1,048 4.10 3.6035-39 2.2 3.1 5.8 12.5 13.7 19.0 18.0 9.7 7.7 4.7 3.6 100.0 946 5.20 4.5040-44 2.1 4.9 4.7 6.6 11.2 13.0 14.4 12.3 11.2 7.6 12.0 100.0 587 6.00 5.0445-49 1.5 5.3 5.5 7.0 6.9 11.0 9.4 14.5 11.9 11.7 15.3 100.0 531 6.44 5.39Total 7.0 14.8 17.6 14.6 11.7 11.5 7.7 5.5 3.9 2.6 3.1 100.0 5,983 3.71 3.224.2 BIRTH INTERVALSThe term “birth interval” refers to the period of time between two successive live births.Information on the length of birth intervals provides insight into birth spacing patterns. Research hasshown that children born too soon after a previous birth are at an increased risk of dying, particularlywhen the interval between births is less than 24 months. Maternal health is also jeopardized whenbirths are closely spaced.Table 4.5 shows the distribution of births in the five-year period preceding the survey by thenumber of months since the previous birth, according to selected demographic and socioeconomicvariables. First births are excluded from the table. Seventeen percent of births in Tanzania occurredless than two years after a previous birth. Almost four in ten births have an interval of two to threeyears, and one in four births occurs at least four years after a previous birth. As expected, the medianbirth interval increases with the age of the mother. There are no significant differences in the medianbirth interval by sex or survival status of the preceding birth. However, the median birth interval forbirth orders seven or higher is 26.7 months compared with 35.4 months for birth orders four to six.The overall median birth interval is 34.7 months.1 Primary infertility does not include women who may have had one or more births but who are unable to havemore children, a measure of secondary infertility.Fertility and Reproductive Health | 43