Demographic and Health Survey 2009-10 - Timor-Leste Ministry of ...

There is little difference in the proportion of men and women age 15-49 who have been
sexually active in the past four weeks (48 percent compared with 46 percent). Thirteen percent of men
had sexual intercourse in the year before the survey but not in the month prior to the survey, while 7
percent had not been sexually active for one year or more. One in three men said that they have never
had sex. As with women, sexual activity among men increases with age and peaks between age 40-44.
Men currently in a union are much more likely to be sexually active than those not currently in a
union. There is little variation in current sexual activity by marital duration or urban-rural residence.
Regional variation for men shows similar patterns as for women. Recent sexual activity is
lowest among men living in Ermera (28 percent) and highest among men living in Manatuto (70
percent).
In contrast to the pattern found for women, the proportion of men sexually active in the past
four weeks is highest among those with more than secondary education. As with women, the
relationship between recent sexual activity and wealth quintile is U-shaped.
6.6 POSTPARTUM AMENORRHEA, ABSTINENCE, AND INSUSCEPTIBILITY
Postpartum amenorrhea is the
interval between the birth of a child and
the resumption of menstruation, during
which the risk of pregnancy is reduced.
Postpartum protection from conception
depends upon the intensity and duration
of breastfeeding. Postpartum abstinence
refers to the period of voluntary sexual
inactivity after childbirth. A woman is
considered insusceptible if she is not exposed
to the risk of pregnancy, either because
she is amenorrheic or because she
is abstaining from sexual intercourse
following a birth. In the TLDHS, information
was obtained about the duration
of amenorrhea and the duration of sexual
abstinence following childbirth for births
in the three years preceding the survey.
Table 6.8 shows the percentage
of births in the three years preceding the
survey for which mothers were postpartum
amenorrheic, abstaining, and insusceptible,
by number of months since
birth. The results show that Timorese
women are amenorrheic for a median of
8.2 months, abstain for a median of 3.2 months, and are insusceptible to pregnancy for a median of
9.1 months. In general, the proportion of women who are amenorrheic or abstaining decreases with
increasing months after delivery. The proportion who are amenorrheic drops from 97 percent in the
first two months after birth to 25 percent at 12 to 13 months and 7 percent at 24 to 25 months after
birth. The majority of Timorese women (93 percent) are still abstaining from sex in the first two
months following birth. A comparison of data from the 2003 DHS indicates that the median duration
of postpartum amenorrhea has increased from 7.3 months to 8.2 months, which may be partly
explained by the increase in exclusive breastfeeding, which contributes to anovulation and
amenorrhea.
88 | Other Proximate Determinants of Fertility
Table 6.8 Postpartum amenorrhea, abstinence and insusceptibility
Percentage of births in the three years preceding the survey for which
mothers are postpartum amenorrheic, abstaining, and insusceptible, by
number of months since birth, and median and mean durations, Timor-
Leste 2009-10
Months
since birth
Percentage of births for which
the mother is: Number of
Amenorrheic Abstaining Insusceptible births
1