Health worker pilot project

In a survey conducted by the Kavar Village Health Worker Project in Iran, among married women, aged 15-44, residing in 16 villages served by project trained, auxillary rural health workers, 28% used oral contraceptives, while only 13% of the women who resided in 16 control villages served by untrained rural midwives used oral contraceptives. Among women in the 25-35 age bracket, the % of oral contraceptive users in the project villages was twice as great as in the control villages. Surprisingly, despite the strong Muslim tradition extant in these villages, no significant differences in usage were found between those villages served by male auxillary health workers and those served by female workers. The auxillary health workers had been trained to provide a wide variety of preventive and curative medical services, in addition to providing family planning and contraceptive distribution. At the time of the survey, these workers had been serving the 16 villages for 21 months. In the 16 control villages the nonresident midwives had received no training but had been provided with oral contraceptives for distribution.     

A survey of China's birth control among women of child-bearing age

To further implement China's family planning policy of "prevention first, birth control first," a study of the current family planning situation was conducted. A survey of the birth control methods employed by women of childbearing age and by men was based on a nationwide randomized sampling of 1/1000. In the different age groups, ranging from 15-49 years old, IUD users accounted for over 50%, tubal sterilization 25%, and vasectomy 10%. The main IUD users were women in the 20-24 age group. Tubal sterilization was more prevalent among the women in the 35-39 age group. The use of oral contraceptives (OCs) was more common among younger women but accounted for less than 10% of the total. The survey was based on the replies to questionnaires from 172,788 married women of childbearing age; 120,022 of them practiced contraceptive methods for a birth control rate of 69.46%. The breakdown was as follows: IUD, 34.84%; tubal sterilization, 17.63%; vasectomy, 6.94%; OCs, 5.86%; condom users, 1.39%; and other methods (including chemical suppositories, rhythm, or safe period method and withdrawal before ejaculation), 2.78%. There was a higher percentage of OC users in urban areas, and a marked preference for IUDs in the rural communities. The rural birth control rate was 68.58%; the urban rate was 74.17%. The use of the IUD has priority in all the areas; its percentage approaches the national average level. The use of vasectomy as a birth control method varies considerably according to area as does the use of OCs, condom, and tubal sterilization. Rural minority groups prefer the IUD and OCs; tubal sterilization, the condom, and vasectomy are preferred by the Han nationality. The birth control rate differed according to the different occoupation groups: 77.85%, workers; 76.01%, farmers; 85.15%, cadres; 59.52%, housewives; and 66.67%, others. The birth control rate was higher among those who received a college education than the illiterates, but statistics did not show a significant difference in the rate of those with a high school education and the illiterates. Mothers of 0-1 children generally preferred OCs; tubal sterilization was preferred by mothers with 2-3 children. The nonusers of contraception accounted for 30.54% among married women of childbearing age. A breakdown gives the following figures: menopause and infertility, 6.17%; divorced and widowed, 1.64%; planned parenthood, 10.51%; nonusers who should have practiced contraception, 12.22%. On a national level, the estimated number of nonusers of contraception among those who should be practicing contraception comes to about 20,000,000 women.     

Promoting family planning work in Xiaqidu township by establishing a family planning association in each village]

A family planning association was established in each village of Xiaqidu Township in Hunan Province, China in October 1986. The positive functions of each such association were so fully developed that family planning work reached new levels. For example, most villages are no longer experiencing early marriages or unplanned births. Some of the villages have established associations for individual work groups. The traditional method was for both township and village associations to rely upon the positive attitudes of officials to instill into fertile women Party policy, and to arouse their patriotism and initiative. By establishing family planning associations at the village level, however, the people can conduct their own affairs and educate themselves. Emphasis has been placed on attracting into the associations those who are of childbearing age, as well as older villagers of experience. The associations' raison d'etre was to serve the people. They did so through: propaganda (disseminating population theory, birth control and family planning information); helping the people overcome poverty, traditional thinking, and ignorance; assisting women with any problems and anxieties relating to child-bearing; delivering contraceptives to households; and providing the elderly with care and the young with education.     

西部农村留守妇女的身心健康及其影响因素——来自四川农村的报告

本文采用西部地区24个行政村千余名农村妇女的调查数据，探讨了农村留守妇女的身心健康及影响因素。研究发现，留守确实影响了农村妇女的身心健康，留守妇女比非留守妇女更担心自己的身体健康状况，更倾向认为自己的身体健康状况不及同龄女性和比以前更差了，更容易出现一些生理和心理不健康的症状；留守妇女的家庭压力、社会支持网络、当地医疗卫生状况等因素对其身心健康有不同程度的影响。文章最后提出建立夫妻间良好的沟通机制、构建社会支持网络、改善农村医疗卫生状况三点建议。     

Publicity and education on family planning information in Keshan County

In 1984 the Keshan (Northeast China) County Government and the Family Planning Committee initiated an education campaign to disseminate family planning information to farmers. The team of propagandists consisted primarily of full-time family planning workers. Village cadres, school teachers, and rural physicians, who are properly educated and positive about family planning work, enjoy high prestige among the workers. They were invited to be team members after training and are supported by the villagers because they come from among the local people. All the childbearing women aged 15-49 in each village were classified by the propagandist into 5 groups according to their marital and childbearing status, i.e., women at the age of puberty, women of new marriage, pregnant and lying-in women, women with children to be reared, and middle-age and old women. The women were organized into groups to attend lectures on different subjects such as population policy, relationship between population growth and socioeconomic development on the 1 hand and individuals and environment on the other. Also included were physiology, the health birth and rearing of children, and health care for women and the aged. The publicity effort included broadcasting, films, video aids, and slide shows. Increased classs were during the slack seasons, and lectures were given once a week. By 1986, about 80% of the population at childbearing age in Keshan County had attended the family planning lectures.     

Herbal contraceptives: exploring indigenous methods of family planning

The study, "Herbal Contraceptives: An Alternative Strategy in Family Planning", was conducted by the Research Institute for Mindanao Culture, Xavier University, for the Population Center Foundation. The study has 2 phases: 1) phase 1 gathered information from the regional population offices on the areas where herbs are grown, and 2) phase 2 sought to obtain data on the preparation and perceived effectiveness of herbal contraceptives. Results indicate that, in most of the Philippine regions, herbal contraceptives had long been used by women in the rural areas, specifically those in the indigenous groups. The 1984 study found that many rural women in the research area preferred the Kamias drink and other herbal concoctions to the pill and other modern contraceptive methods. Among college-educated women, it was found that acceptance of contraceptives was influenced more by their religion rather than by their education. Most of the respondents said they used herbal contraceptives because they were easily obtained and were inexpensive. Generally, they considered herbal contraceptives much safer than other contraceptives methods. Some women who had been using modern family planning methods are now using herbs in delaying pregnancy; this shift is mainly due to the side effects of the modern methods. There is room for a compromise between folk practices and modern science, as in the case of herbal contraceptives.     

甘肃省农村已婚育龄妇女人工流产状况分析

本文通过对甘肃省农村已婚育龄妇女的人工流产状况的分析,建议加强对农村育龄妇女的生殖健康教育,降低非意愿妊娠率及人工流产率,提高育龄妇女的生殖健康水平。     

The right to have a second birth given up

The Government of the Wendeng County, Shandong Province has taken measures to carry out the family planning program in a down-to-earth way. For the past few years, there are 2141 couples who have given up, of their own accord, the right to have a 2nd birth, though they are entitled to have. During the practice of family planning, the Wendeng Government started with the publicity of family planning policies. More than 30,000 copies of publicity pamphlets were distributed and about 220 shows of videotapes, films and slides were played in the countryside. The county's Family Planning Committee and the Maternal and Child Health Care Station, together with other departments concerned gave 120 lectures on birth control in the rural areas and sent contraceptives to every village with guidance to households. For the past 3 years, the proportion of women at childbearing age using contraceptives has increased by 62%.     

A welcome family planning service center

The Family Planning Service Center of Luohu District was organized by the Family Planning Committee of the district to help couples of child bearing age and 1-child families to overcome their difficulties. The services provided by the center include: distributing contraceptives, and providing consultation on birth control, contraception, healthy births and better upbringing, and maternal and child care. A peculiar feature of the center is that one sees many young and middle-aged people of both sexes going in and out of the place at all hours of the day and night. Workers from the center even go to offices and factories to provide services and distribute contraceptives. In close cooperation with neighborhood family planning centers, the center has also set up offices to distribute contraceptives and give advice. It is estimated that in Luohu District, at present, 90% of the couples of childbearing age are current users of contraceptives. In the city, the proportion of 1-child families is quite large. As a rule in China, preschool children are looked after by their grandparents. Living separately from their parents, however, many couples in the city find it difficult to find someone to care for their children. The center also provides assistance in finding child care help. The center has also invited experts and medical personnel to give 10 lectures on child nutriology, child psychology, birth control, contraception and pregnancy health.     

Birth control techniques in China

This article describes the major birth control techniques in use in China, based on data from a contraceptive prevalence study conducted in September, 1982. 118 million of the 170 million married women of child bearing age use birth control. IUD insertion accounts for 50.2% of birth control methods used, tubal ligation accounts for 25.4%, vas deferens ligation 10.0% oral contraceptives (OCs) 8.2%, and condoms 2.0%. A table of clinical data on 9 China made IUDs reveals that pregnancy rates range from 0 (V Cu-300 model) to 5.83% (mixed ring model). A method of IUD insertion immediately after delivery has been researched and adopted, using a silastic Delta IUD with barium added to reduce the high postpartum expulsion rate. fixing the IUD by sutures during Cesarean section has also been developed. Electronmicroscopic studies of the endometrium of women who have used a stainless steel IUD for more than 20 years showes no tendency towards malignancy, nor negative effects on the endocrine functions of the ovaries. 28 million Chinese women have accepted sterilization as of June, 1982. Local anesthesia and the use of acupuncture have reduced complications due to general anesthesia seen previously. Sterilization by means of chemically induced adhesion of Fallopian tube tissue has also been performed successfully; however, this method makes later anastomosis difficult, and is not suitable for young women with only 1 child. Fallopian tube occlusion by means of a silver clip has been performed in 1,128 cases, with a pregnancy rate of only .85%. 10.62 million men have accepted sterilization. While most of the procedures are val ligations, 300,000 men have been sterilized by direct injection of an adhesive agent throuh the skin of the scrotum. No increase in auto immune or vascular disease has been found. 3 low-dose OCs, used since 1969, have proven to be reliable and freer of side effects than higher-dose compounds. In addition, longterm OCs containing quinestrol have been used since 1969 with a success rate of 98.3% women-year. These pills are taken 1x monthly. R and D priority will be given be given to monthly injectable contraceptives; megestrol and norethindrone are the compounds most preferable. In trials so far, the effective rate has been 99.9% with mild side effects. Gossypol, a male contraceptive, has shown an antifertility effect in 99% of 8000 cases studied; however, hypokalemia and irreversibility of spermatogenesis were reported in some cases. Vacuum suction is the most common method for abortion, but Radix Trichosanthis and lilac daphne terpine, traditional abortifacients, anre acceptable for 1st trimester abortions. Prostaglandins are also used.     

公共生活与社区生育意愿关系研究

本文利用 1996年社区发展与人口控制的 2 4个试点的调查资料 ,通过试点村与对照村的比较 ,探讨拓展社区公共生活空间与生育意愿的关系。研究结果表明 ,公共生活与社区生育意愿存在显著关系。其意义表现为不仅有利于当前我国农村社区的人口控制 ,而且也有利于稳定现已取得的成效及未来人口控制 ,并为人口控制方式的转变创造了条件     

越来越多的西藏母亲享受住院分娩

住院分娩是安全分娩的重要保障，是保护妇女身体健康、降低孕产妇死亡率的一项重要措施。然而，西藏是一个自然环境独特的高原地区，交通条件和经济条件都较为艰苦；同时受不同的旧传统及生育观念的影响，再加上农牧民文盲、半文盲的比例较高，直接影响了妇女是否选择住院分娩。     

Recent changes in Negro fertility

Crude birth rates for the Negro population of the United States indicate that fertility declined while Negroes remained in the South and them climbed in the last twenty-five years as Negroes became urbanized. Cohort rates show more precisely the effects of the Depression upon childbearing as well as the magnitude and persistence of the post-Depression rise in fertility. More Negro women now become mothers, average family size has increased, and the proportion of women bearing six, seven, or eight children has risen. Negro fertility has risen despite the urbanization of Negroes and improvements in their socio-economic characteristics. Negro fertility rates present the paradox of falling when demographic transition theory would predict the maintenance of high rates and then rising when a decline would be expected. Urbanization does not appear to have reduced Negro fertility. Traditionally, urban living has dampened childbearing in two ways—first, health conditions in cities were inferior to those of rural areas, and thus urbanization affected fecundity adversely; second, city residents are more likely to know about and adopt birth control than rural residents. Negroes migrated to cities at the very time when diseases were being controlled and when public health and welfare facilities were being expanded to serve all residents. This has contributed to higher Negro fertility rates. If fertility rates are to fall because of family planning, not only must birth control be available but there must be a desire to limit family size. Such a desire may be linked to opportunities for social mobility. Negroes have not been assimilated into urban society as previous in-migrant groups were, and opportunities for mobility have been restricted. For these reasons Negroes may be slow to adopt stable monogamous families and the intentional control of fertility.     

农村外出妇女的生育意愿分析——基于鄂州、黄石、仙桃三地数据

本文利用2009年2月在鄂州、黄石、仙桃农村外出和未外出育龄妇女的调查数据，通过列联分析和logistic二元回归分析，从四个方面分别考察了外出与未外出育龄妇女生育意愿的关系及其影响因素。结果发现．育龄妇女的意愿子女数主要受其年龄、受教育程度、职业状况等个人特征的影响，外出过的妇女的意愿子女数要显著少于未外出过的妇女，这种差异主要是由于外出妇女与未外出妇女本身的结构差异所引起的，外出本身对育龄妇女的意愿子女数并没有显著作用；在生育目的上，外出与未外出妇女存在显著性差异，外出能弱化传统思想在妇女生育动机中的作用；在意愿生育性别和意愿生育时间这两个方面外出和未外出妇女没有显著性的差异。     

浅析青海省民和回族土族自治县结合项目

结合项目的宗旨和我国推行计划生育工作的宗旨是一致的。结合项目非常适合农村现实情况,有利于改善农村妇幼卫生和人民身体健康;有利于提高人口素质和控制人口数量;有利于卫生事业和社会经济的发展。     

A survey of the family planning work done in Dongguan County

The total fertility rate of women of childbearing age of Dongguan County in China has been decreasing gradually from 5.9 during the period following the liberation in 1949 to 2.05 in 1982. In order to encourage young couples to implement the policy of family planning consciously, the people's government of Dongguan county decided in July 1980 that all cadres and employees in county towns who received 1-child certificates would be exempted from house rent of 45 square meters from the time they get their certificates and would be allocated a living space of a 2-children family until their children reached age 16. It also stipulated that every couple could enjoy 1 month's holiday every year for 3 years and during the holiday, their salary, bonus and rate of attendance would not be affected. Because women bear less children today, they are relieved from heavy household chores and become the main working force in collective production. As a result, the development of town-run enterprises was stimulated and the total industrial output value of these enterprises increased. The average monthly salary of each female worker is about 100 yuan. In 1984, the average income per capita of the country rose to 649.2 yuan. The implementation of family planning work has eased the tension in the education field. Previously, because of the large number of school-age children in rural areas, teachers had to teach 2 classes. In the past 4 years, great emphasis was laid on intellectual investment. During this period, 2351 schools were built and several fundraising projects were implemented. Since 1981, more than 200 new running water projects were built, and new public services have been developed, including old age homes.     

我国农村地区老年人群体的健康状况研究

今天，健康已经成为人们生活质量的重要组成部分。中国作为世界上老龄化速度最快的国家之一．人口老龄化是本世纪我国遇到的一个重要社会问题。随着老年人口的增加，不仅仅是城市地区，农村老年人群体的健康条件也越来越引起人们的重视。为此，本文使用2005年4月进行的全国性抽样跟踪调查数据。对我国五个省份地区的八百多个五十岁以上的老年人健康进行了调查分析。研究表明。农村地区老年人的身体健康存在明显的性别差异和地区差异，尤其是老年女性的身体健康状况较男性明显落后。     

Grasp the work of family planning by unifying thinking and stabilizing the policy

The China Population Information and Research Center reported that in 1988 the number of childbearing women between 20 and 49 was 4.65 million above 1987, but the population growth rate was 0.19 lower than in 1987. Controlling the population is still a difficult problem. The 3rd baby boom of New China; economic, cultural, social, and other factors; and the uneven progress of family planning are cited as causes of the lack of control. The 13th Party's Congress in 1989 plans to work to reform family planning and control population growth. In particular, late marriages and childbearing will be promoted; in cities, one-child-per- couple will be policy; in rural areas, only girl households will be allowed another child only after several years; local family planning regulations will be supported; and research on family planning and safer, longer acting contraceptives will be financed.     

Utilization of Infertility Treatments: The Effects of Insurance Mandates

Over the last several decades, both delay of childbearing and fertility problems have become increasingly common among women in developed countries. At the same time, technological changes have made many more options available to individuals experiencing fertility problems. However, these technologies are expensive, and only 25% of health insurance plans in the United States cover infertility treatment. As a result of these high costs, legislation has been passed in 15 states that mandates insurance coverage of infertility treatment in private insurance plans. In this article, we examine whether mandated insurance coverage for infertility treatment affects utilization. We allow utilization effects to differ by age and education, since previous research suggests that older, more-educated women should be more likely to be directly affected by the mandates than younger women and less-educated women, both because they are at higher risk of fertility problems and because they are more likely to have private health insurance, which is subject to the mandate. We find robust evidence that the mandates do have a significant effect on utilization for older, more-educated women that is larger than the effects found for other groups. These effects are largest for the use of ovulation-inducing drugs and artificial insemination.     

To have or not to have? Australian women’s childbearing desires,expectations and outcomes

Australia’s low fertility rate is commonly attributed to deliberate decisions by women to avoid having children. Existing theoretical explanations of fertility decision-making mostly view childbearing as a rational, voluntary process and focus on the ‘costs’ to women of having children. Although this may help explain why women do not have children, it contributes very little to understanding why women do have children. This study describes childbearing desires, expectations and outcomes in a population-based sample of 569 30–34-years-old Australian women recruited from the Australian Electoral Roll in 2005. Most women surveyed wanted to have children, and their childbearing outcomes were associated with biological, psychological and social factors including the lack of a partner and adverse health conditions. The factors and their relative importance varied by parity. Most women had fewer children than they desired, and many would have children, or more children, if their circumstances were different. These data challenge prevailing assumptions about women’s childbearing behaviour that women are able to choose when and if they have a child. Based on the findings, a conceptual framework of childbearing behaviour is proposed which builds on existing theoretical explanations to explain why women do and do not have children, differences by parity, and the role of circumstances in women’s childbearing behaviour. The findings and conceptual framework have implications for public policies, and indicate that multiple approaches are required which are sensitive to and address the barriers women face in family formation.