Mughees Anjum, Usman Rasool Lodhi.
Children mortality and family patterns; a study in bahawalpur.
Professional Med J Jan ;15(2):225-8.

Some of the mother`s risk factors associated with the infant and childhood death were investigated in Bahawalpur. Objective: To have the knowledge of childhood mortality and family formation pattern in Bahawalpur. Design: Cross sectional descriptive epidemiological study. Setting: Quaid-e-Azam Medical College Bahawalpur. Period: From January to May 2007. Material & Methods: 320 urban women were interviewed for pregnancy histories and their attitude towards family formation were sought. Results: Early marriage, low education level, and high parity were associated with infant deaths. Thirty-seven percent of urban families and 28.5% of rural families had lost one or more children, usually all in infancy. Generally half of the deaths were caused by infectious diseases. Most women preferred a large family and majority of those who had lost children had replaced them. No difference were found between urban and rural women regarding attitudes towards child loss and family formation patterns. Conclusions: Preventive measures should be adopted to control infectious diseases to reduce children mortality.

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