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Demographic and endocrinological aspects of low natural fertility in highland New Guinea

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  31 July 2008

James W. Wood ,
Patricia L. Johnson  and
Kenneth L. Campbell
James W. Wood
Affiliation:
Population Studies Center and Reproductive Endocrinology Program, Boston, USA
Patricia L. Johnson
Affiliation:
Department of Anthropology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA
Kenneth L. Campbell
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, University of Massachusetts, Boston, USA
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Summary

The Gainj of highland Papua New Guinea do not use contraception but have a total fertility rate of only 4·3 live births per woman, one of the lowest ever recorded in a natural fertility setting. From an analysis of cross-sectional demographic and endocrinological data, the causes of low reproductive output have been identified in women of this population as: late menarche and marriage, a long interval between marriage and first birth, a high probability of widowhood at later reproductive ages, low effective fecundability and prolonged lactational amenorrhoea. These are combined with near-universal marriage, a low prevalence of primary sterility and a pattern of onset of secondary sterility similar to that found in other populations. Of all the factors limiting fertility, by far the most important are those involved in birth spacing, especially lactational amenorrhoea.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Biosocial Science , Volume 17 , Issue 1 , January 1985 , pp. 57 - 79
Copyright
Copyright © 1985, Cambridge University Press

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