The determinants of the duration of postpartum sexual abstinence in West Africa: a multilevel analysis.

The question of how postpartum sexual abstinence responds to social change in West Africa is important because declines in the practice could increase fertility levels and worsen child and maternal health. This study uses data from the late 1970s in Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, and Cameroon to examine effects of modernization and women's status on the length of abstinence. The results show that modernization and female status should be associated with declines in abstinence, which could lead to an increase in fertility and deterioration in maternal and child health.