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Simultaneity in the use of maternal-child health care and contraceptives: evidence from developing countries

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Demography

Abstract

This study examined the relationship between the use of maternal-child health (MCH) care and the use of contraceptives. The high correlation between the two may be due to the independent effect of one on the other or to an association of both with the same or similar background factors. We used structural equation models to examine the relationship between these two interventions. The data were derived from six Demographic and Health Surveys: Zimbabwe from Sub-Saharan Africa, Thailand from Asia, Egypt and Tunisia from North Africa, and Guatemala and Colombia from Latin America. The results show that in all six countries, the use of contraceptives and MCH care are significantly associated, independent of intervening factors; this finding suggests that families develop a joint demand for better-quality health and limited family size and translate these demands into action by using health services for mothers and for children and by voluntarily regulating fertility.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Population and Family Health Sciences, Bloomberg School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University, USA

    Saifuddin Ahmed & W. Henry Mosley

Authors
  1. Saifuddin Ahmed
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  2. W. Henry Mosley
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Correspondence to Saifuddin Ahmed.

Additional information

This study received financial support from a research training grant from the World Health Organization (WHO), Geneva. We thank the Human Reproduction Program, Division of WHO, and the Hopkins Population Center for their financial support and Stan Becker, Laura Caulfield, and Mei-Cheng Wang for their contribution in the study. The first author thanks Halida Hanum Akhter for her support to his doctoral program when this study was undertaken. We thank the anonymous reviewers for their comments and suggestions and to acknowledge the contribution of Barbara Entwisle in the overall improvement of this article through her suggestions and editorial comments.

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Ahmed, S., Mosley, W.H. Simultaneity in the use of maternal-child health care and contraceptives: evidence from developing countries. Demography 39, 75–93 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1353/dem.2002.0001

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