Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-42gr6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-16T00:13:49.850Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Female stress and birth seasonality in Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

Han F. W. Bantje
Han F. W. Bantje
Affiliation:
Institute of Resource Assessment, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Delivery records from Tanzanian hospitals reveal a marked seasonality of births in areas with holoendemic malaria. Accepted explanations of variations in conception rate are inadequate to account for these seasonal variations. The magnitude of the variation increases with higher parity but it has decreased over the past decade. The differences are related to different activity patterns of younger and older women, and to recent changes in the rural economy. Conception rate has a negative association with rainfall 4 months earlier; birth seasonality is therefore considered in relation to the agricultural cycle. While seasonal variations in sexual activity and pregnancy loss may be contributory factors, female stress due to the combination of malarial infection and physical exhaustion emerges as the major cause of seasonally depressed fecundity in areas with holoendemic malaria.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 20 , Issue 2 , April 1988 , pp. 195 - 202
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1988

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bantje, H. (1979) The Rufiji Agricultural System: Impact of Rainfall, Floods, and Settlement. BRALUP Research Paper no. 63, Dar es Salaam.Google Scholar
Bantje, H. (1985) Longterm and Seasonal Variations in Birthweight Distribution in Tanzania. IRA Research Paper no. 13, Dar es Salaam.Google Scholar
Bantje, H. (1987) Seasonality of births and birthweight in Tanzania. Social Sci. Med. 24, 733.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Becker, S. & Sardar, M. A. (1981) Seasonal patterns of vital events in Matlab Thana, Bangladesh. In: Seasonal Dimensions to Rural Poverty. Edited by Chambers, R., Longhurst, R. & Pacey, A.. Pinter, Allanheld & Osmund, London.Google Scholar
Condon, R. G. (1982) Inuit natality rhythms in the central Canadian Arctic. J. biosoc. Sci. 14, 167.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Dyson, T. & Crook, N. (1981a) Causes of seasonal fluctuations in vital events. (1981b) Data on seasonality of births and deaths. In: Seasonal Dimensions to Rural Poverty. Edited by Chambers, R., Longhurst, R. & Pacey, A.. Pinter, Allanheld & Osmund, London.Google Scholar
Gupta, H. D. (1975) Climate and conception rates in Punjab India. Ind. J. publ. Hlth, 19, 122.Google Scholar
Mosher, S. W. (1979) Birth seasonality among peasant cultivators: the interrelationship of workload, diet, and fertility. Hum. Ecol. 7, 151.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naeye, R. L. (1980) Seasonal variations in coitus and other risk factors, and the outcome of pregnancy. Early hum. Dev. 4, 61.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Naeye, R. L. (1981) Nutritional/nonnutritional interactions that affect the outcome of pregnancy. Am. J. clin. Nutr. 34, 727.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Ngallaba, S. A. M. (1983) Fertility levels and patterns. In: Population of Tanzania: 1978. Bureau of Statistics, Dar es Salaam.Google Scholar
Parkes, A. S. (1976) Patterns of Sexuality and Reproduction. Oxford University Press, London.Google Scholar
Roberts, D. F. & Tanner, R. E. S. (1959) A demographic study in an area of low fertility in NE Tanzania. Popul. Stud. 13, 61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar