ArticleJournal of biosocial science2013
Birth spacing and child mortality: an analysis of prospective data from the Nairobi urban health and demographic surveillance system.
Article in Journal of biosocial science, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
64 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 141 citations in OpenAlex.
- Magnitude, determinants, and complications of short inter pregnancy intervals among pregnant mothers in Ethiopia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.Reproductive health · 2024Pooled it
- A Systematic Review of Factors Associated with Under-Five Child Mortality.BioMed research international · 2022Pooled it
- Pooled it
- Trial
- Interpregnancy intervals and maternal and neonatal outcomes: A retrospective cohort study.International journal of gynaecology and obstetrics: the official organ of the International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics · 2026Article
- Knowledge and Attitude Toward Interpregnancy Interval and Its Impact on Women's Health.Cureus · 2026Review
- Predictors of postpartum modern contraceptive use intentions among pregnant women in urban Ghana: a cross-sectional study.The Pan African medical journal · 2026Article
- The Magnitude and Determinants of Suboptimal Child Spacing Practices Among Women of Childbearing Age in Ethiopia: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis.Women's health reports (New Rochelle, N.Y.) · 2025Article
- Understanding demographic events and migration patterns in two urban slums of Nairobi City in Kenya.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Determinants of suboptimal birth spacing among reproductive-age women in Adama district, Ethiopia: a community-based unmatched case-control study.BMC women's health · 2024Article
- Factors associated with time to first birth interval among ever married Bangladeshi women: A comparative analysis on Cox-PH model and parametric models.PLOS global public health · 2024Article
- Childhood mortality and associated factors in Migori County, Kenya: evidence from a cross-sectional survey.BMJ open · 2023Observational
- Preceding birth interval, timing and number of antenatal contacts in Africa, 2010-2020.International health · 2023Article
- Spatial distribution of short birth interval and associated factors among reproductive age women in Ethiopia: spatial and multilevel analysis of 2019 Ethiopian mini demographic and health survey.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2023Article
- Nigerian men and modern contraceptives: who are the non-users and what are their perceptions about family planning?The Pan African medical journal · 2023Article
- Faith Leaders, Healthy Timing and Spacing of Pregnancies (HTSP), and Family Planning: What Works?Annals of global health · 2023Article
- Understanding the associations between maternal high-risk fertility behaviour and child nutrition levels in India: evidence from the National Family Health Survey 2015-2016.Scientific reports · 2022Article
- Assessing changes in knowledge, attitudes, and intentions to use family planning after watching documentary and drama health education films: a qualitative study.Reproductive health · 2022Article
- Article
- Assessment of a Novel Fixation Method of a Frameless Intrauterine Contraceptive Device Inserted during Cesarean Delivery as a Means of Preventing Displacements and Expulsions: A Prospective Observational Study.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Article
4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
The majority of studies of the birth spacing-child survival relationship rely on retrospective data, which are vulnerable to errors that might bias results. The relationship is re-assessed using prospective data on 13,502 children born in two Nairobi slums between 2003 and 2009. Nearly 48% were first births. Among the remainder, short preceding intervals are common: 20% of second and higher order births were delivered within 24 months of an elder sibling, including 9% with a very short preceding interval of less than 18 months. After adjustment for potential confounders, the length of the preceding birth interval is a major determinant of infant and early childhood mortality. In infancy, a preceding birth interval of less than 18 months is associated with a two-fold increase in mortality risks (compared with lengthened intervals of 36 months or longer), while an interval of 18-23 months is associated with an increase of 18%. During the early childhood period, children born within 18 months of an elder sibling are more than twice as likely to die as those born after an interval of 36 months or more. Only 592 children experienced the birth of a younger sibling within 20 months; their second-year mortality was about twice as high as that of other children. These results support the findings based on retrospective data.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.