In the past two decades, several fertility variables have been shown to have an effect on marital stability: presence or absence of children, child spacing, birth timing, and total number of children. This paper studies the effect on marital stability of the planning of fertility. (Author)

Contemporaneous birth records of 49 Dublin (Ireland) children with autism were compared to those of the previous same-sex live birth for maternal age, maternal parity, birth order, and birth weight. Autistic individuals did not differ from controls in terms of risk factors for autism associated with obstetric adversity, disputing the view that…

Used data from National Longitudinal Survey of Labor Market Experience of Youth to examine relationship between whether or not women wanted to become pregnant with first child, and their subsequent maternal behaviors and infant's birth weight. Being Black or younger was associated with below-average levels of pregnancy wantedness; living in urban…

Noting that previous research showed younger siblings systematically more sexually active at given age than older siblings, used national data to explore relationship between sibling birth order and sexual behavior. Testing of process-oriented models revealed very slight support for opportunity model for white older sisters and white younger…

Examined childbearing behavior of approximately 733 black and 2,986 white cohabiting and married women at 2 stages in marital life course. Found that, for both first unions and first postmarital unions, rate of childbearing within cohabitation more closely approximated rate of childbearing within legal marriage among black women than white women.…

Chlamydia's role in female infertility is discussed. The relationship of this organism to other diseases such as leprosy and tuberculosis is explained. Conditions caused by Chlamydia such as Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID) are described. (KR)

Examined demographic and occupational features associated with postpartum plans reported at childbirth and status 6 months later for 205 Canadian women. Women employed until birth were more likely to be primiparous than unemployed women. Parity, socioeconomic status, and part- versus full-time work status failed to discriminate between women's…

Examines growth parameters at birth in 204 infants born to mothers who used cocaine and/or opiates during pregnancy. Outcome measures included birth weight, length, and head circumference. Study provides support that in utero cocaine exposure may confer more risk for somatic growth retardation at birth than opiate exposure. (Author/GCP)

Article critically appraises the sibling-comparison method by discussing its limitations: it assumes within-family homogeneity; it neglects naturally occurring heterogeneity across siblings; it overlooks unique effects of a teen's childbearing for her family and siblings; it underappreciates the selectivity of sisters of teenage mothers who delay…

Study 1 (n=159) found significant differences in vocational personality types, interests, and values depending on birth order. Study 2 (n=119) found significant differences in occupational interests by birth order. Both results support Alfred Adler's theory that birth order determines aspects of vocational behavior. (Contains 33 references.) (SK)

Evaluation of follow-through family projects that linked 120 nursing students with 90 childbearing families indicated that students enjoyed establishing therapeutic relationships and developed care skills and appreciation for childbirth as a transition. Families appreciated the health and education support and individualized assistance and felt…

Determined the age group for defining early adolescent childbearing based on rates of adverse clinical outcomes. Data on infant mortality, very low birth weight, and very pre-term delivery per 1,000 live births for women age 12-23 years in the 1995 U.S. birth cohort indicate that early adolescent childbearing is best defined as giving birth at age…

The authors examined the relationship between sibling structure variables (i.e., gender, number of sisters, number of brothers, sibling spacing, number of siblings, and birth order, all men, and all women siblings) and current relationships with parents and spouse/partners. Participants included 519 adults between the ages of 19 and 59 years. Two…

Hypothesizes that nonmarital fertility is more likely when children are seen as an important source of social capital. Data from the first two waves of the National Survey of Families and Households finds support for these views. Concludes that understanding increases in nonmarital fertility requires an appreciation of the social benefits that…

Prosodic information, such as word stress and speech rhythm, is important in language acquisition, and sensitivity to stress patterns is present from birth onwards. Exposure to prosodic properties of the native language occurs prenatally. Preterm birth and an associated lack of exposure to prosodic information are suspected to affect language…