Predictors of time to first birth after first marriage among women in Uganda

Yovani Moses A. Lubaale, Makerere University
Frank Mubiru, Makerere University
Robert Wamala, Makerere University
Leornard Atuhaire, Makerere University

The objective of this paper was to investigate the factors associated with time to first birth after first marriage among women in Uganda. The source of data was the 2011 Uganda Demographic and health survey. The analysis was made using a time to event approach involving life tables, log-rank and the Cox Proportional Hazards model. Results indicated that the median time to first birth after first marriage was 2 years with a range between 1-15 years. The most important predicting factors of having a live birth after first marriage was ever lost a pregnancy either spontaneously or induced, knowledge of ovulation cycle by the women and having had late sexual debut (p < 0.05). Its recommended that women who have ever lost pregnancy should have proper medical checkup and treatment before getting another child and need to increase knowledge when a woman becomes pregnant in the ovulation circle