Socioeconomic, cultural and demographic determinants of childbearing desires among married women attending health centers in Hamedan (2012)

Background: Changes in values ​​and attitudes of the Iranian society during the past few decades have greatly influenced the reproductive decisions and actions of individuals and families, especially women. The aim of this study was to analyze the determinants of childbearing desires of married women attending Health Centers in Hamedan.

 Methods: Data were collected through a survey which was conducted during November and December, 2012. This cross-sectional study was conducted on a sample of 273 eligible women who were selected randomly. A structured questionnaire was used for data collection.

Results: Results showed that 70.7 percent of women did not want to have another child in addition to the children they had at the time of survey.  Among these women, 55 percent and 84.3 percent had one and two children, respectively. Further, 78.4 percent of respondents stated that two children were the ideal number of children for the households. The most important reasons for the two-children pattern were economic problems and families’ problems in rearing and training the children, respectively. Results of multivariate analysis showed that the likelihood of stopping childbearing was higher among working women,women with more children, women at the end of reproduction age, women evaluating children’s benefits lower than their expenditures, and women with little tendency to prefer sons to daughters.

Conclusion: Population policies to prevent further decline in fertility should be focused on employment, family, and quality of life, especially among women without children, women with one child and newly married couples.