Birth Spacing in Deurali VDC of Kaski district of Nepal

Birth spacing is the interval that the couples maintain between two successive children. World Health Organization (WHO) and other international organizations recommend that individuals and couples should wait for at least 3-5 years between births in order to reduce the risk of adverse maternal and child health outcomes. Having children too close together has long been associated with increased risk of various adverse health outcomes, including mortality, for infants, children and mothers. But in developing countries women are giving birth to children in short gap which is causing infant, child and maternal mortality. The main objective of the study is to assess the determinants of birth spacing. A cross sectional study was carried out in Deurali VDC of Kaski. The study population comprised of married women of reproductive age having at least one child. The data was collected by using semi structured interview schedules and collected data were entered in Epi-data and analyzed using SPSS. The total sample was 262, among them most of the 130 (49.6%) respondents were >30 years old while 13 (5%) of respondents were <20 years old. The minimum age was 15 and maximum age was 45 years. The mean ± SD of age of the respondents was 31.65±7.144 years. Majority 231 (88.2%) of respondents were Hindu and 123 (48%) were of upper caste. Majority of 151 (57.6%) respondents lived in joint family and 158 (60.3%) of respondents were house wives. Educational status of respondents shows that 79 (30.2%) had primary education. Only 69 (26.3%) of respondents were found using temporary family planning methods 91 (34.7%) and unwanted pregnancy. Depo-Provera and implant were found common among family planning users. The main reason for inadequate birth spacing was hope for male child 184 (70.2%), however, 212 (20.9%) respondents also said that adequate birth spacing is determined to maintain health of the mother and child. Key words: Birth spacing, determinants, family planning, married women of reproductive age