Orissa women show decline fertility rate

Bhubaneswar, Oct 23 (UNI) The fertility rate of woman in Orissa is on a declining trend.

The desire for more children is affected by women's number of sons, education, wealth and the increasing use of contraceptives, a report of the National Family Health Survey(NFHS-3) conducted by the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry said.

The fertility rate per women in the state has decreased from 2.9 children per woman in 1992 to 2.5 children in 1998 and 2.4 children in 2005.

The fertility rate of the state is also slightly lower than the all India fertility rate average of 2.7 children per woman, the report said.

The survey was based on a sample collection of 3910 households.

and interview of 4,540 women in the age group of 15 to 49 and 1,592 men in the age group of 15 to 54 to arrive at the conclusion.

The report further says nearly 70 per cent of the women in the age group of 15 to 49 have preferred to sterilize themselves after having two children.

As many as 44 per cent of women and 40 per cent of men who want a child, prefer to wait for two years before having another child.

Bihar has the distinction of the highest fertility rate with four children per woman followed by Uttar Pradesh and Meghalaya (3.8) each and Nagaland (3.7).

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