The effects of birth intervals on infant and early childhood mortality in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, China (Han, muslimin Uygur)

This thesis examines the relationship between birth intervals and infant and childhood mortality, using hazard proportional models and the data from the 1988 Two Per Thousand Fertility and Birth Control Survey in China. Findings indicate that irrespective of birth order, the harmful effects of short preceding birth intervals on infant and early childhood mortality are significant. However, the study finds no significant effects of subsequent birth intervals on early childhood mortality. The implications of the findings are discussed in terms of improving child survival in the region. Besides, two other interesting results detected in the study are worth mention. First, maternal education shows no significant effect on infant and early childhood mortality especially when rural-urban residence and time period variables are controlled. Second, the differences in child survival between Han and muslimin Uygur are found to be surprisingly large.