Determinants of first birth timing among married women in Ardakan city - Payesh (Health Monitor)
Sun, Sep 20, 2026
OPEN ACCESS
In Press                   Back to the articles list | Back to browse issues page

Ethics code: IR.YAZD.REC.1403.030

XML Persian Abstract Print

Determinants of first birth timing among married women in Ardakan city
Tayyebeh Nik Ardakani1 , Hajieh -Bibi Razeghi -Nasrabad *2 , Abbas Askari-Nodoushan1
1- Faculty of Social Sciences, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran
2- Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
Abstract:   (28 Views)

Objective(s): In recent years, Iranian couples have been postponing marriage and childbirth. This has led to lower fertility rates and significant economic, social, and demographic consequences. This study aims to analyze the interval between marriage and the first birth among married women in Ardakan County and identify the factors that influence this timing.
Methods: This secondary data-based study utilized a cross-sectional survey design, collecting information through questionnaires. Data were gathered through interviews with a sample of 400 married women aged 15–54 who had been selected using systematic random sampling from 12 clusters in the urban and rural areas of in Ardakan County in 1402 (2023–2024). Additionally, supplementary variables were extracted by searching the national identification numbers of the study participants in the Integrated Health System (SIB system) and were added to their records in an Excel file. Data analysis was conducted using survival analysis techniques, including Kaplan-Meier tests, log-normal models.
a sample of 400 married women aged 15–54 years Ardakan County.
Results: The survival analysis revealed that the median interval between marriage and the first birth was 32 months, indicating that half of the women had their first child within this period, while the other half remained childless. Based on the modeling results, women's age, educational attainment, and migration status were identified as important and influential factors. According to the log-normal survival model, as women's age increased, the survival time from marriage to the birth of the first child decreased, indicating that older women had their first child within a shorter interval after marriage. Women with lower levels of education had their first child earlier. Non-native women also had their first child after a longer interval following marriage.
Conclusion: According to the findings, childlessness is low in Ardakan city and most marriages end in having children. This is due to the religious, moral, and family culture that has created a positive attitude towards various aspects of marriage and family formation.
 

Keywords: Childbearing patterns, reproductive behavior, fertility desires, birth timing, fertility decline.
Full-Text [PDF 1382 kb]   (15 Downloads)    
type of study: Descriptive | Subject: Reproductive Health
Received: 2025/06/1 | Accepted: 2025/11/1 | ePublished ahead of print: 2026/09/20
References
1. Beaujouan E. Late fertility intentions and fertility in Austria. Vienna Institute of Demography Working Papers 06/2018 Available from: https://www.econstor.eu/bitstream/10419/207049/1/1023989700.pdf. Accessed 2025 Jun 4
2. Alimoradiyan M, Razeghi Nasrabad H, Alimondegari M, Askari-Nodoushan A. Delay in the Second Birth: An Analysis of the Length of Waiting Time from First to the Second Birth among Women in the City of Khorramabad, Iran. Journal of Population Association of Iran 2022; 17: 73-111 [Persian]
3. Bagheri A, Saadati M. Factors affecting intervals between first and second births among women aged 15-49 in Tehran. Iranian Journal of Epidemiology 2019; 15:68-76 [Persian]
4. Razeghi Nasrabad H, Hosseini-Chavoshi M, Abbasi-Shavazi M.J. Determinants of First Birth-interval in Tehran Using Event History Models. Iranian Population Studies 2019; 5: 127-156 [Persian]
5. Ghaffari F, Motaghi Z. Factors Affecting Childbearing Based on Women's Perspectives: A Qualitative Study. Navid No 2021; 23: 33-43 [Persian]
6. Beaujouan E, Sobotka T. Late childbearing continues to increase in developed countries. Population and Societies 2019;562. Available from: https://shs.cairn.info/journal-population-and-societies-2019-1-page-1?lang=en. Accessed 2025 Jun 4 [DOI:10.3917/popsoc.562.0001]
7. Dehesh T, Malekmohammadi N, Dehesh P. Associated factors of first-birth interval among women in reproductive age, addressing maternal and child health. Reprod Health 2022;19:28. Published 2022 Jan 29. doi:10.1186/s12978-022-01346-5 [DOI:10.1186/s12978-022-01346-5]
8. Ahammed B, Kabir R, Abedin M, Ali M, Islam A. Determinants of different birth intervals of ever-married women: Evidence from Bangladesh. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health 2019; 450-456 [DOI:10.1016/j.cegh.2019.01.011]
9. Miettinen A, Rotkirch A, Szalma I, Donno A, Tanturri ML. Increasing childlessness in Europe: time trends and country differences. Families and Societies Working Paper 2015. Available from: https://www.vaestoliitto.fi/verkkojulkaisut/increasing-childlessness-in-europe/. Accessed 2025 Jun 4
10. Statistical Yearbook, Deputy of Health, Shahid Sadoughi University of Medical Sciences and Health Services, Yazd. Available from: https://health.ssu.ac.ir/آمار/. Accessed 2025 Jun 4
11. Haeri Mehrizi A.A, Tavuosi M, Sedighi J, Esmaili Motlagh M, Eslami M, Naghizadeh F, Montazeri A. Reasons for the desire and unwillingness to have children among urban and rural Iranians: A national study, Payesh Journal 2017; 16: 637-645 [Persian]
12. Ghahremani F, Ahmadi Doulabi M, Mahmoodi Z, Nasiri M. The structural factors of social determinants of health on Iranian women's childbearing: a systematic review study. The Iranian Journal of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Infertility 2023; 26: 99-118 [Persian]
13. Lesthaeghe R.J. The second demographic transition: a concise overview of its development. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2014; 111: 18112-18115 [DOI:10.1073/pnas.1420441111]
14. Lesthaeghe R.J. The second demographic transition: also a 21st century Asian challenge. China Population and Development Studies 2022; 6: 228-236 [DOI:10.1007/s42379-022-00119-8]
15. Tajbakhsh G.R. Studying the Backgrounds and Contexts of Declining Fertility Rate: A Qualitative Research. Population Quarterly 2019; 27: 69-96 [Persian]
16. Rad F, Tawabi H.Study of fertility tendencies and social factors related to it: a case study of married women aged 15 over 50 and living in tabriz. Women and family studies 2015; 3: 127-155 [Persian]
17. Charmzadeh R, Akhound MR, Rasekh AR. Factors affecting birth intervals among women visiting health centers in Ahvaz. Hayat Journal 2014;20: 35-50 [Persian]
18. Shams Gahfarokhi F, Askari-Nodoushan A, Eini-Zeinab H, Ruhani A, Abbasi-Shavazi M. J. At the Crossroad of Decision to Have Children: An Analysis of Individual and Social Childbearing Challenges in the Context of Low Fertility in Isfahan. Journal of Applied Sociology 2022; 33: 1-28 [Persian]
19. Shams-Ghahfarokhi F, Askari-Nodoushan A, Eini-Zinab H, Ruhani A, Abbasi-Shavazi M.J. Challenges of New Pronatalist Population Policies and Programs in Iran: A Qualitative Study in the City of Isfahan. Journal of Population Association of Iran 2021; 16: 79-112 [Persian]
20. Alimoradian M, Razeghi Nasrabad H, Askari Nodoushan A, Alimandgari M. Duration of childlessness among couples: Analysis of differences and determinants in Khorramabad city. Journal of Gorgan University of Medical Sciences 2023; 25: 68-78 [Persian]
21. Shojaei J, Yazdkhasti B. A systematic review of studies of fertility declines in the last two decades. Women's Strategic Studies 2017;19 :137-59 [Persian]
22. Razeghi Nasrabad H. Para Effect of Education on Childbearing Postponement: A Qualitative Study among Female Students in Tehran Universities. Socio-Cultural Strategy 2016; 5: 167-190 [Persian]
23. Kaveh Firooz Z, Zare B, Shamseddini H. Effect of lifestyle components on fertility attitudes: A case study of women at marriage onset in Tehran. Women in Development and Politics 2016;14: 217-34 [Persian]
24. Carvalho AA, Wong LLR, Miranda-Ribeiro P. Discrepant fertility in Brazil: an analysis of women who have fewer children than desired. Rev Latinoam Pobl 2016;10: 83-106 [DOI:10.31406/relap2016.v10.i1.n18.4]
25. Rahnama A, Roozbeh N, Salimi Asl A, Kazemi Gerashi Z, Abbaszadeh M, Dabiri F. Factors Related to Childbearing in Iran: A Systematic Review. Journal of Preventive Medicine 2022; 9 :6-17 [Persian]
26. Emami A, Askari-Nodoushan A, Torkashvand Moradabadi M, Torabi F. Marriage postponement in Iran: district-level analysis of youth singlehood patterns. Iranian Population Studies 2022; 7:35-65 [Persian]
27. Bakhtiari A, Razeghi Nasrabad H, Alimondegari M, Askari Nadoshan A. The Determinants of the intended age of marriage Amongst Isfahani Youths. Iranian Journal of Sociology 2021; 22: 104-129 [Persian]
28. Askari-Nodoushan A, Fotouhi-Tafti F, Alimondegari M. Socioeconomic differential of female age at marriage in Iran: comparative study of female youth at marriageable age and female married 15-49 years old. Women's Strategic Studies 2018; 20:171-210 [Persian]
29. Ahmadvand K. Investigating some factors affecting fertility in Nahavand city. Farhangian Quarterly 2001; 7:139-55 [Persian]
30. Hosseini, H. Socio-Economic Demography and Family Planning. 4st Edition, Bu-Ali Sina University Press: Hamedan, 2013 [in Persian]
31. Nourozi L.The effect of socioeconomic factors fertility rate of women. Journal of Planning and Budget 1996; 3: 61-78 [Persian]
32. SeyedNavaz J. Examine the relationship between parental education and number of children in families Ardabil. [Master's dissertation]. Rudhen Islamic Azad University 1994; [Persian]
33. Moshfegh M, Farahani H. A comparison of fertility behaviors and intentions between migrant and native women in a migrant-attracting city in Markazi Province. Population Quarterly 2022; 28:169-95 [Persian]
34. Abbasi-Shavazi M.J, Askari-Nodoushan A, Thornton A. Family life and developmental idealism in Yazd, Iran. Demographic Research 2012; 26:207-38 [Persian] [DOI:10.4054/DemRes.2012.26.10]
35. Sabbaghchi M, Askari-Nodoushan A, Torabi F. Determinants of the attitude towards marriage and family formation in Yazd city, Iran. Iranian Population Studies 2017; 3:131- 62 [Persian]
Add your comments about this article : Your username or Email:
CAPTCHA
Send email to the article author

Rights and Permissions
Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

© 2024 All Rights Reserved | Payesh (Health Monitor)

Designed & Developed by : Yektaweb