Fertility, Infertility and Child Survival of Somali Women

The relationship of reproductive patterns, some socio-economic factors and child survival was studied in 766 rural Somali women. A structured questionnaire was the method of data collection. Teenage marriage was the norm for the women, and divorce was very common. The mean number of live births was 5.2, and the mean number of surviving children was 3.7. 2/3 of the women aged 45+ had a parity of 6 or more, about one third had had at least one miscarriage and one fifth had experienced one stillbirth. Primary infertility was observed in 7% of the women aged 45+, while 20% were considered subfertile. Verbal autopsy showed that mortality was highest among infants and accounted for 63% of the child deaths. Major causes of death were neonatal tetanus, diarrhoea and respiratory diseases. Child survival and reproductive outcome ratios were found to be negatively related to the increasing age of the mother and parity. Divorce and widowhood were also found to be associated with low child survival.