Dehne, Karl L2003-03-202009-05-272003-03-202009-05-272003-03-20Dehne KL. Knowledge of, attitudes towards, and practices relating to child-spacing methods in northern Burkina Faso. Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition. 2003 Mar; 21(1): 55-66http://imsear.searo.who.int/handle/123456789/550Journal of Health, Population, and Nutrition.This study was carried out to document current trends in knowledge of, attitudes towards, and practices relating to traditional and modern child-spacing methods in a remote area in northern Burkina Faso. Information on sexual abstention, weaning, and contraception was elicited from 296 women of reproductive age, involving 413 postpartum intervals. A number of older women and key informants were also interviewed. The findings depicted significant diversity in that durations of individual postpartum sexual abstinence varied between 40 days and 3 years, with shorter durations associated with stricter adherence to Islamic beliefs and, possibly, a trend towards a less collective and, for the family unit, more labour intensive, agro-pastoral subsistence economy. Although durations of amenorrhoea were relatively short at between (median) 9 and 11 months, they determined the length of non-susceptible periods in almost 90% of cases. The median timing of weaning was stable at 24 months across all three main ethnic groups. However, changes in the frequency and type of complementary feeds may have impacted on the duration of amenorrhoea. Both demand for modem contraception and contraceptive prevalence (< 1%) were very low. The creation of new child-spacing norms and the promotion of modern contraceptive methods are likely to be successful in areas like this one only, if the population can be sensitized to the idea that Islam does not necessarily discourage contraception.engAdultAge DistributionAmenorrhea --physiopathologyBirth IntervalsBreast Feeding --statistics & numerical dataBurkina FasoContraception --statistics & numerical dataDelivery, Obstetric --statistics & numerical dataEducational StatusEthnic Groups --statistics & numerical dataFemaleHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, PracticeHumansPostpartum Period --physiologyReligionSexual AbstinenceTime FactorsWeaningJournal Article