Even in high-income populations quite high proportions of first-time mothers experience complications in pregnancy or delivery which may influence decisions about future fertility. Using register data from the whole Norwegian population, we investigate whether birth experiences of first-time mothers of liveborn singleton babies in 2007-2017 were associated with progression to a second birth in a follow-up period of up to ten years. We take into account parental socio-demographic characteristics and indicators of the mother’s pre-pregnancy health and pregnancy complications that may influence the delivery mode. Additionally, we took into account whether the child was born preterm or had low birth weight, which is also linked to the delivery mode. The health indicators were taken from data on primary care consultations. We found that, net of all these factors, mothers whose first child was delivered by caesarean section, whether elective or unplanned, were substantially less likely to have a second child in the follow-up period. In the last step, we included indicators of the mother’s post-natal health and union stability, which the delivery mode may be expected to operate through in affecting the second-birth rate. Although associations between these factors and the delivery mode appeared, they do not seem to be important mediators. Norway is a very safe country for childbirth with a low rate of caesarean section deliveries so implications of our findings may be more pronounced in other settings.
Presented by:
Professor Emily Grundy - Institute for Social and Economic Research, University of Essex
Date & time:
January 29, 2025 12:30 pm - January 29, 2025 1:30 pm
Venue:
ISER Large Seminar Room 2N2.4.16
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