The Open Birth Interval: A Resource for Reproductive Health Program and Women’s Empowerment by Ross and Bietsch was published in the Global Health: Science and Practice journal. This post summarizes the article on the ways information on women’s timing and spacing of births can be used.
What is the Open Birth Interval?
“How long has it been since your last birth?”
Asking a woman this simple question determines the open interval—the period of time since her last birth.
The open birth interval reveals a pattern that varies by a woman’s age, the number of living children she has, her residence, and her socioeconomic level. More importantly, the open interval could reveal a lot about her reproductive behavior, status, and contraceptive needs.
Until now, very little empirical information on open birth intervals has been available. In a Global Health: Science and Practice article, Ross and Bietsch assembled and analyzed data from 232 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in 74 countries, allowing them to glean a wealth of information on women’s open birth intervals.