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Abstract

This study is concerned with an analysis of demographic and socio-economic determinants of reproductive patterns in Qatar. The main source of data for this study is the 1987 Qatar Child Health Survey. The determinants of age at first marriage and fertility are examined in chapters 2 and 3, respectively. There follows an analysis of patterns of maternal care (chapter 4), and of breastfeeding and weaning practices (chapter 5). In chapter 6, an attempt is made to investigate the determinants of contraceptive use.

Substantial decreases in the propensity of first marriage at teen-ages and an upward trend in age at first marriage were observed. A multivariate analysis of factors affecting age at first marriage revealed that education, work status and consanguinity are the main determinants of age at first marriage in Qatar.

A significant decline in the fertility of Qatari women was observed. A multivariate analysis of factors affecting fertility revealed that achieving an education level of at least a preparatory certificate and reducing the occurrence of child deaths are the most important determinants of fertility in Qatar. The analysis, however, shows a positive association between contraceptive use and achieved fertility. The implication of this reverse causation is that those women most likely to use contraceptive methods are those who already have achieved high parities. The results also imply that contraception is used mainly for stopping rather than spacing of children.

The analysis of data on maternal care revealed that the vast majority of women received ante-natal care and gave birth to their most recent birth in a hospital. A substantially lower proportion of women, however, had received post-natal care.

A growing pattern of early weaning and early supplementation with a bottle was identified. This pattern has adverse implications for the health and nutritional status of infants and points to urgent health education needs.

Only a quarter of currently married Qatari women were using a contraceptive method at the time of the survey. A multivariate analysis of the correlates of family planning revealed that maternal education is by far the most important predictor of contraceptive use.

Thus, the analysis suggests that the health and well-being of the family in Qatar, more specifically, mothers and children, depends a great deal on increasing maternal levels of education. Educated women will not, through regulating their fertility, have too many children, at very young or very old ages, or too close to each other in a manner that is detrimental to their health and well-being and to their children’s health and survival.

Publication Type:	Thesis (Doctoral)
Subjects:	H Social Sciences > HA Statistics H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Departments:	Bayes Business School > Actuarial Science & Insurance > Statistical Research Reports Bayes Business School > Bayes Business School Doctoral Theses Doctoral Theses

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