The question of whether demographic trends have affected birth rates of parous mothers is of interest to researchers and policymakers, especially in the context of ensuring optimal and equitable allocation of resources. Perhaps the most important finding in this analysis is that overall, although total births declined over the study period among blacks as well [...]

Temporal variations in live-born parity are shown in Table 1. Among women of moderate parity (1-4 previous live births), the birth rates declined between the first and the second period and then remained almost stable by the third period. Among high-parity women (5-9 previous live births) a linear pattern of temporal trajectory was observed, with [...]

We used the “Natality data files” assembled by the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) covering the period 1989-2000. The Natality files contain individual records of all live births that occurred in the United States during the stated period. The procedures for quality control of the data are explained in detail elsewhere. The data source [...]

The published evidence showing that high-parity women are at greater risk for adverse birth outcomes is inconclusive. Whereas some studies find a direct association between parity status and adverse birth outcomes, others do not. In order to understand the linkage between parity status and adverse birth outcomes, it may be necessary to investigate temporal changes [...]

In our study of African-American mothers, concern over immunization was related to a number of factors, including: lack of knowledge and control over the immunization process, lack of trust in the medical community and experiencing adverse reactions and/or hearing about purported adverse effects of vaccines. Reasons mothers had their children immunized despite concerns included social [...]

Reasons Mothers Had Their Children Immunized despite Concerns
Social norms and/or laws supporting immunization and fear of the consequences of not immunizing were major factors that influenced mothers to have their children immunized despite their concerns (Table 4).

Reasons for Concerns
Factors influencing mothers’ concerns included doubts about the safety and necessity of vaccines, mistrust of the medical community and lack of information (Table 3).
Concerns about Vaccine Safety and Necessity. Fear of and/or experiences with adverse reactions fueled many concerns about immunization safety. Most mothers were extremely upset about the many relatively common side [...]