Comparing the Attitudes of Men and Women towards the Birth of First Child

Background and The time between marriage and first birth has a major role in the number of a couple’s births, and maternal and children health. Therefore, population and fertility health studies are highly interested in this area.
We conducted a cross-sectional survey and a questionnaire was used to collect the data. The research population included 400 people (200 males and 200 females) who were getting married in near future in Kohgiluyeh and Boyer Ahmad, Iran. The participants were selected via convenient sampling. Data analysis was done in SPSS.
The results showed that the average time-interval between marriage and a first birth for men and women is 2.22 and 1.95 years, respectively. Some variables were found to have significant direct effects on the attitudes of participants towards birth of first child including place of residence (city or village) in men and the age, employment status, and family’s socio-economic status in women.
In the population studied, people agreed to the idea of having a child in the first 5 years of their marriage. So policy makers should provide appropriate conditions such as improving the working conditions of women and improving health care during pregnancy. Moreover, they should provide the suitable conditions for marriage of young people aged 20 to 30 years.