This study was based on data from the 1984 Malawi Family Formation
Survey which was a nationwide sample survey conducted by the National
Statistical Office and the Ministry of Health. This is an exploratory
study on fertility and the use of birthspacing methods in Malawi based
on data for the 476 ever-married women in Mzimba District.
The major limitation of the data was the small sample size which
limited the number of factors to be examined. Furthermore, a detailed
classification of the variables have not been analyzed because cell
sizes would be too small to be meaningful. Because the sample was
designed to obtain estimates of total number of women aged 15-49 and
their children at the regional level for rural areas and at the national
level for urban areas, this study used unweighted data examining
fertility differentials of ever-married women by place of residence, age
at marriage, type of marriage, education and husband's occupation as
well as family size preferences and knowledge and use of birthspacing
methods.
The objective of the study was to identify major determinants of
fertility in Mzimba. The number of children ever born alive was the
measure of fertility. The study showed that fertility differentials
existed only by age at first marriage and also between women who were
first wives and those who were second or higher order wives in
polygamous marriages. Woman's current age appeared to influence family
size preference positively. The study revealed low levels of knowledge
and use of birthspacing methods among women in Mzimba District
