Reproductive behaviour in women in Shiraz, Islamic Republic of Iran

Abstract

Data on the reproductive behaviour of women in Shiraz are presented. A total of 9934 randomly selected women aged ≥ 35 years of all socioeconomic levels were interviewed. The mean age at menarche ± standard deviation was 13.96 ± 1.23 years, mean age at first marriage was 17.10 ± 4.24 years and mean age at first pregnancy was 19.50 ± 3.90 years. The mean number of children was 4.56 ± 1.70 children, although for illiterate women it was 6.76 ± 1.76 children and for high-school- or university-educated women it was 3.36 ± 1.70 children. The mean age at menopause was 47.80 ± 3.78 years.