Breastfeeding and birth intervals among women in Java and Bali

Abstract

Using the 1976 Indonesia Fertility Survey data, this study aims to identify which factors are most important in explaining the variation in the duration of breastfeeding and birth intervals, and to examine the patterns of breastfeeding and birth interval duration according to those factors. The factors that have been included are: place of residence, wife's and husband's education, age of mother, birth order and sex of the infant, method of contraception used and duration of breastfeeding. Place of residence, wife's and husband’s education are found to have the greatest contribution in explaining the variation of the duration of breastfeeding. Shorter durations of breastfeeding are associated with urban residence and higher education. Age of mother and sex of the infant do not show a significant association with the duration of breastfeeding. Birth order and contraceptive use are also found to be associated with the duration of breastfeeding, however, their contributions in explaining the variation are not as great as either place of residence or wife's or husband’s education. In the case of birth interval length, factors that are found to be most important in explaining the variation are the duration of breastfeeding and contraceptive use. Longer duration of birth intervals are associated with longer duration of breastfeeding and use of contraception. Factors of maternal age and birth order and sex of the infant do not have an association with the duration of birth intervals. Place of residence and wife's education, before controlling for other factors, seem to have a strong association with the duration of birth intervals. However, after controlling for other factors, the associations are likely to disappear. Presumably, the associations between these factors and the duration of birth intervals mainly are through the breastfeeding variable. Surprisingly, husband’s education has a quite strong association with the duration of birth intervals. It is presumed that the association is not related to the husband's education per se but it is related to the dominant opinion of the husband in decision making about having children.