Levels and trends of demographic indices in southern rural Mozambique: evidence from demographic surveillance in Manhiça district

Table 2 Fertility in Manhiça DSS, 1998–2005; Maputo province and Mozambique

Fertility	1998	1999	2000	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005
DSS, Abortion ratio*	67.1	61.9	37.5	47.5	39.9	34.1	27.4	23.9
DSS, Still birth ratio*	31.3	22.0	30.3	40.2	22.6	22.4	27.1	21.3
DSS, Total Fertility Rate (TFR)	5.2	4.9	4.9	4.3	4.6	4.8	4.6	4.8
Maputo, TFR**	5^a					4.1^c
Mozambique, TFR	6^a		5.9^b			5.5^c

Sources: Manhiça DSS data.
^aData refer to 1997; calculated from the 1997 census [16].
^bSource: [21].
^cSource: [7].
*Number of abortions per 1000 live births. In Manhiça DSS, abortion is defined as the interruption of a product of conception within 7 months of gestation, irrespective of whether the interruption was spontaneous or induced or miscarriage. If the pregnancy ends after 7 months of gestation and the foetus shows no signs of life is considered stillbirth. Then we can calculate stillbirth ratio by dividing the number of stillbirths by the number of live births, multiplied by 1000.
**Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is the average number of children a woman would bear if she survived through the entire reproductive age and experienced at each age the prevailing age-specific fertility rates [10].

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