A Closer Examination of the HIV/Fertility Linkage ... - Measure DHS

and urban women. Birth spacing is increasing. On the other hand, there are indicators that couldsuggest a stall in the fertility transition. Ideal number of children and the percentage marriedboth slow their declines. Contraceptive use falls or remains constant for the 15-19 age group.Urban modern method use falls. Condom use falls from low to even lower levels.Overall, these different trends suggest that there are some behavioral changescontributing to the stall in the fertility transition. Taken together, the trends suggest that womenare attempting to avoid HIV (by having less sex, increasing age at first intercourse), but still aredeciding to have many children, as evidenced by stalling declines in stated ideal number ofchildren and the TFR. The heightened contraceptive use may be related to birth spacing ratherthan limiting births.22