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Joshua O. Akinyemi, University of Ibadan
Sunday Adedini, Federal University Oye-Ekiti, Nigeria
Olanrewaju Eniade, University of Ibadan
Research discourse about effects of child mortality on subsequent fertility has identified behavioural replacement as a potential mechanism. Available evidence from high mortality settings of sub-Saharan Africa supports this hypothesis. Extending the argument further, an empirical question of research interest is “does experience of under-five death motivate women in high mortality settings of sub-Saharan Africa to seek preventive and curative health interventions for their subsequent children? We plan to conduct analyses using reproductive history data from demographic and health surveys conducted in selected sub-Saharan Africa countries from year 2015 onward. Outcome variables would include the following health and survival interventions for the index child: vaccination, use of insecticide treated net, treatment of fever, diarrhoea and symptoms of acute respiratory tract infections. We have preliminary results for Nigeria and Chad. In Nigeria, death of a preceding child was not associated with treatment of diarrhoea (AOR=1.13, CI: 0.76-1.69), ARI symptoms (AOR = 0.61, CI: 0.31-1.17) and full vaccination (AOR = 1.09, CI: 0.86-1.39). Similar results were obtained for Chad. These findings suggest that childbearing women in the two countries analysed so far rarely learnt lessons from childhood mortality experiences. Five other countries are still open for further exploration before a definitive conclusion.
Keywords: Mortality, Cross-country comparative analyses, Demographic and social surveys, Fertility and childbirth