2011 The Palm Beach County Family Study (Full Report)

Subsequent Pregnancies and Prenatal CareAt the time of the fifth-year interview, 140 (45%) of the 310 sample mothers had given birth to at leastone child after the birth of their focal child. 19 Of these 140 mothers, 85 percent gave birth once after thefocal child, 12 percent gave birth twice, and 3 percent gave birth 3 times. Just six mothers (4%) were 19years of age or younger at the birth of the first subsequent child, and one mother was still a teen at thebirth of the second subsequent child. 20For the 140 mothers who had at least one subsequent child, the mean (SD) number of days in betweenbirths was 816 (311.5) days, or approximately 27 months, with a range of 277 to 1,494 days. The majority(53%) of these 140 mothers spaced the births of their focal child and the first subsequent child at least 2years apart. Just over a quarter (28%) of these mothers spaced these two children a year and a half to 2years apart, 13 percent spaced these two children a year to a year and a half apart, and 6 percent spacedthese two children less than a year apart.The spacing between births was smaller for mothers who gave birth to more than one child after theirfocal child. For the 21 mothers who gave birth to two children after their focal child, the mean (SD)number of days between the first subsequent child and the second subsequent child was 617 (173.3) days,or approximately 21 months, with a range of 306 to 945 days. Of these 21 mothers, a majority (56%) hadtheir second subsequent child a year and a half to 2 years after the birth of the first subsequent child.Twenty-one percent had their second subsequent child at least 2 years after the first subsequent child; 21percent gave birth to their second subsequent child a year to a year and a half after the first subsequentchild; and 3 percent gave birth to their second subsequent child a year or less after the birth of the firstsubsequent child.Finally, for the four mothers who gave birth three times after their focal child, the mean (SD) number ofdays between the birth of the second subsequent child and the third subsequent child was 371 (53.6) daysor approximately 12 months, with a range of 338 to 457 days.Children’s Health and HealthcareAs in previous years, mothers’ assessments of the health of the focal children were overwhelminglypositive, with 94 percent describing the child’s health as “good,” “very good,” or “excellent.” At the same19 Vital Statistics data through 2009, however, indicate a total of 187 subsequent births for these 310 mothers around the time ofthe year 5 interview; the reason for this discrepancy is not clear.20 These fertility statistics are higher than a report from the Department of Health and Human Services Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention (2005), which indicates that in 2002 the interval between first and second births was less than 12 monthsfor 5 percent of low-income mothers and between 13 and 24 months for 23 percent of low-income mothers ages 20 to 44.Chapin Hall at the University of Chicago 27