International Family Planning Perspectives articles from September 2006

International Family Planning Perspectives archives from September 2006

In this issue.
September 1, 2006... As age at marriage has risen in many developing countries, concern has grown about early sexual activity and the risks of unplanned pregnancy and HIV infection. Research has generally focused on identifying factors associated with early,...

Small change in delivery may make a big difference.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... A slight delay in clamping the umbilical cord after delivery may prevent newborns from developing iron deficiency early in life. (1) As part of a study conducted between October 2003 and July 2004 in a large obstetrics hospital in Mexico City,...

Bangladeshi women rarely seek help for abuse.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Although the prevalence of physical violence against women by their husbands is high in Bangladesh, only a small proportion of women discuss the problem and an even smaller proportion seeks help. (1) Of 2,702 ever-married Bangladeshi women who...

An unintended consequence of China's one-child policy?(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Although China's "one-child" policy has substantially reduced the country's birthrate and women's preferred family size, it seems to have increased the male-to-female birth ratio as well. (1) According to data from 39,585 women collected by...

Antenatal care leads to use of other health services.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Women who receive antenatal care are significantly more likely than those who do not to use other maternal health services before, during and after delivery, according to a study using 2002 District Level Household Survey data from 11,454...

Syndromic management: not for pregnant women.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... The low effectiveness of syndromic management algorithms for women may leave many pregnant women with untreated vaginal infections that could lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes, according to a study of 250 pregnant women aged 15-40 who attended...

Neonatal interventions and infant deaths in Chile.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Neonatal care interventions may help explain the reduction of mortality among newborns during the 1990s, according to an analysis of Chilean Ministry of Health data from 2.9 million births that occurred between 1990 and 2000. (1) The overall...

Migrant men may act as a bridge for HIV in Pakistan.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... Unsafe sex practices and low levels of HIV knowledge among migrant male workers in Pakistan could accelerate transmission of HIV from high-risk groups, such as sex workers, to the general population. (1) Of the sample of 590 migrant men in...

Many countries' contraceptive users have limited choice.(Brief article)
September 1, 2006... According to an analysis of 96 countries with a population of at least one million people and a Demographic and Health Survey conducted since 1980, 34 have a skewed contraceptive method mix--defined as 50% or more of all contraceptive users...

Before first sex: gender differences in emotional relationships and physical behaviors among adolescents in the Philippines.
September 1, 2006... CONTEXT: Early age at first sex has been identified as a risk factor for unplanned pregnancy and HIV infection. However, the emotional relationships and physical behaviors that precede first intercourse, and how they differ by sex, also may...

Maternal and social factors associated with abortion in India: a population-based study.
September 1, 2006... CONTEXT: A cultural preference for sons may be a factor driving recourse to abortion in India, as women carrying female fetuses may decide to terminate their pregnancies. To assess this hypothesis, more information on the incidence of abortion,...

Sexual initiation, substance use, and sexual behavior and knowledge among vocational students in northern Thailand.
September 1, 2006... CONTEXT: Thailand has undergone dramatic social changes in the last two decades, yet little is known about factors related to sexual initiation among adolescents. METHODS: A survey using the audio computer-assisted self-interviewing method...

Induced abortion and unintended pregnancy in Guatemala.
September 1, 2006... CONTEXT: Although Guatemalan law permits induced abortion only to save a woman's life, many women obtain abortions, often under unsafe conditions and in response to an unintended pregnancy. Recent studies indicate that unsafe abortion is a key...

Internal migration and contraceptive knowledge and use in Guatemala.
September 1, 2006... CONTEXT: Levels of modern contraceptive knowledge and use among people living in rural areas of Guatemala differ substantially from those of people living in urban areas. Understanding the pace and extent of rural-to-urban migrants' adoption of...

Risks of adverse obstetric and perinatal outcomes increase with severity of female genital mutilation.(Clinical report)
September 1, 2006... Women who have undergone female genital mutilation have a higher risk for adverse obstetric outcomes than women who have not, and the risks seem to be greater with more severe mutilation, according to the first large-scale prospective study of...

Frequent male condom use decreases women's risk of HPV infection.(DIGESTS)(Clinical report)
September 1, 2006... The more consistently women's male sex partners use condoms, the less likely women are to acquire genital human papillomavirus (HPV) infection, according to a longitudinal study among newly sexually active young women. (1) Compared with their...

Improving work situations during pregnancy may help improve outcome.
September 1, 2006... Women whose jobs expose them to physically difficult and psychologically stressful conditions are at increased risk of having an infant who is small for gestational age, and the risk increases with the number of such conditions if they remain...

In Malawi, breast-feeding does not pose health risks for HIV-positive women.
September 1, 2006... In Malawi, HIV-positive women who breastfeed their infants are no more likely to become ill or die than their counterparts who do not breast-feed, according to an analysis of longitudinal data from HIV-infected mothers and their newborns. (1)...

In Guatemala, men's views of wives' decision-making power affect wives' use of health facilites for births.
September 1, 2006... In western Guatemala, the more involved a woman feels in making household decisions, the greater her likelihood of reporting that in preparing for a recent birth, she and her husband developed a plan for addressing problems during the...

In Egypt, beaten wives are less likely to use prenatal care or contraceptives.
September 1, 2006... Egyptian women who have been beaten by their spouse are less likely than other women to use modern contraceptives or to have received professional prenatal care during their last pregnancy, according to an analysis of data from the 1995...