摘要：Background: Ethiopia is one of the populous countries in Africa. Only about 8 % of currently married women are using contraception, which is low to affect the fertility level significantly. Objectives: To identify differentials of fertility in Rural Butajira, Meskan and Mareko District of Southern Nations', Nationalities and Peoples Regional State. Methods: The study design is case-referent, where the Cases are women with number of children ever born alive is less than 5 and Controls are women with number of children ever born alive greater or equal to 5. Results: A total of 219 women with number of children ever born alive less than 5 and 899 women with number of children ever born alive greater or equal to 5 were included in the study. Of all the socio-demographic and reproductive variables, later Age at first marriage and first birth showed lower number of children ever born alive with (OR= 1.82, 95 % CI: 1.24,2.83) and (OR= 3.08, 95 % CI: 2.03,4.68) respectively. Breast-feeding duration of more than 6 months showed association with less number of children ever born alive (OR= 1.92, 95 % CI: 1.30,2.80). Child mortality affected number of children ever born alive significantly (OR= 7.39, 95% CI: 4.62,9.08). Conclusion: Based on the finding, delaying the age at first marriage and first birth, encouraging mothers to breast-feed their child and expanding interventions to reduce the high child mortality rate through curative and preventive services are recommended. [Ethiop.J.Health Dev. 2003;17(1):17-25]
