The pattern of reproductive life in a Berber population of Morocco.

Reproductive patterns were studied from data collected in 1,450 Berber households in the province of Marrakesh, Morocco in 1984. Women aged 45-49 years had a mean of 8.9 pregnancies to achieve 5.7 living children. Social influences on fertility rates show the importance of tradition, particularly through time-dependent variables such as age at marriage, waiting time to first birth, interbirth intervals, and duration of breastfeeding. Birth control does not appear to affect the tempo of fertility; rather, its main use is to bring the reproductive period to a close. The comparison of two subsamples of women separated by a 25-year interval indicates an actual acceleration of the tempo of fertility by the reduction of waiting time to first birth and of interbirth intervals. The supposed ongoing process of demographic transition is not clearly observed in this population.