Factors associated with child spacing of first and second born children among women of reproductive age in Uganda: a case study of Eastern Uganda

Abstract

The study aimed at identifying the determinants of child spacing of the first and second born children among women of reproductive age in Eastern Uganda. Its specific objectives included establishing the association between socio-economic factors and child spacing, analyzing the association between maternal factors and child spacing and describing the association between demographic factors and child spacing among women in reproductive age in Eastern Uganda The study used secondary data which was collected by UBOS in 2016. This was obtained after seeking for permission from the DHS website. The study considered only women from Eastern Uganda as the study population and a sample of 12,717.7 was used. Analysis was done at three levels using STATA software. Frequency distributions, Pearson’s chi-square tests and logistic regressions were used. More than three quarters of the respondents (76%) spaced children for less or equal to36 months. The factors associated with this included prenatal care, marital status, education level, wealth index, age, place of residence and breast feeding. However, marital status, education, wealth index, age and place of residence were identified as the determinants of child spacing in Eastern Uganda. Therefore, the researcher recommends the ministry of health, government of Uganda and non-government organization to ensure that they implement strategic policies and campaigns in both rural and urban areas educating the nations about the importance of child spacing to recommended moths by the world health organization.