The use of traditional and modern methods of fertility control in Kinshasa, Zaire

Abstract The practice of post-partum abstinence has been a long-standing tradition in many societies of tropical Africa, yet recent research suggests an erosion of the taboo on post-partum sexual relations as a means of fertility control. The current study among women in the lower income groups in Kinshasa, Zaire, provides evidence of this. There is strong motivation toward child-spacing, as shown by 80 per cent of the women who reported to be currently practising some means of fertility control: 73 per cent with traditional methods, only 7 per cent with modern contraceptives. There appears to be some carry-over of traditional practice, in that abstinence is related to the age and nursing status of the last born child. However, the most widely practised method is withdrawal. This suggests a desire on the part of this population for alternatives to abstinence, an issue with important implications for future family planning programs in Zaire.     

The four-parameter logit life table system

Summary Brass's model life table system, which is a two parameter system based on the logit transformation of survivorship values, has been widely and successfully used to describe age patterns of mortality in many populations. As more reliable information has become available for populations with mortality patterns which differ in important ways from the assumed standard pattern of mortality, a more flexible model system is needed. This paper shows how Brass's system can be expanded into a four-parameter model, and evaluates the performance of the new system by examining how well it can fit observed life table data.