Fertility characteristics of a province in eastern Turkey

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the research was to evaluate the fertility rate of Tunceli, a province located at eastern Turkey and rapidly changes over time, and the factors thought to be effective in the change. Method: The research had a cross-sectional design. The sample of the study consisted of 356 women. The data of the study were obtained using a questionnaire that consists of 41 questions by face to face interview technique. Results: The mean age of the women who participated in the research was 36.49±7.07, the mean first gestational age was 25.20±3.75, the mean number of pregnancies was 1.85±0.91, and the mean parity was 1.74±0.84. The first labors of 70.5% of the women were normal vaginal delivery, 52.0% used effective family planning method, and 95.5% could easily reach the methods. In the study, it was determined that there was a negative, moderate, significant correlation between the first marriage age and the mean number of pregnancies, that the number of pregnancies and parity increased significantly as the educational level of women decreased, that the number of pregnancies and parity increased significantly as the educational level of spouses of women decreased and that the number of pregnancies and parity decreased significantly as the level of income of family increased. Conclusion and Recommendations: In the research, the fertility of women was found to be associated with some sociodemographic characteristics. For this reason, improvement of sociodemographic characteristics that may negatively affect the fertility should be supported. Keywords: fertility, gestation, birth rate.