Birth Spacing and Some of Its Determinants in México (1957-1997)

Eunice D Vargas Valle, University of Texas at Austin

This paper describes the tendencies of birth spacing in Mexico from 1957 to 1997 and analyzes the influence of contraceptive use in the length of the first three birth intervals, differentiating among sterilization, intrauterine device (IUD), hormonal contraceptive methods and other contraceptive methods such as condom, rhythm, withdrawal and vaginal methods, and controlling for censoring and a set of covariates. The data came from the 1997 National Survey of Demographic Dynamics (INEGI, 1997). The medians of the first three birth intervals were considerably larger in recent years for the total of women in the sample, as well as for those without sterilization. The risk of having a subsequent child diminished significantly by contraceptive use, in particular, female or male sterilization and IUD. These results help to understand the impact of contraception on birth spacing, and the effectiveness of contraceptive methods during a specific birth interval for Mexican women.