Afghanistan Mortality Survey 2010 - Measure DHS

3.2.7 Age at First BirthThe onset of childbearing has a major effect on the health of both mother and child. Earlychildbearing lengthens the reproductive period, thereby increasing the level of fertility. Table 3.10 showsthe median age at first birth and the percentage of women who gave birth by exact ages, by five-year agegroups. Eight percent of women age 25-49 have never given birth. The median age at first birth decreasessteadily from 21 for women age 45-49 to 19.3 for women age 30-34 before rising at age 25-29.Table 3.7 Age at first birthPercentage of women who gave birth by exact ages, percentage who have never given birth, and median ageat first birth, according to current age, Afghanistan 2010Percentage who gave birth by exact ageCurrent age 15 18 20 22 25Percentagewho havenever givenbirthNumberof womenMedianage at firstbirth15-19 0.9 na na na na 92.3 11,496 a20-24 4.3 22.7 39.6 na na 46.2 7,952 a25-29 6.2 28.8 49.2 67.6 81.6 15.3 5,901 20.130-34 7.3 36.7 56.4 73.4 86.1 6.6 4,189 19.335-39 5.2 31.1 54.3 72.9 87.6 3.9 4,109 19.640-44 6.0 28.8 48.2 69.9 87.9 3.7 3,198 20.145-49 4.9 22.0 39.6 58.5 79.6 2.4 2,620 21.025-49 6.0 30.0 50.3 69.1 84.5 7.6 20,017 20.0na = Not applicablea = Omitted because less than 50 percent of women had a birth before reaching the beginning of the agegroupTable 3.8 shows the median age at first birth by background characteristics. The median age atfirst birth is almost the same in urban and rural areas. Women in the North and Central zones give birthmore than one year earlier than women in the South zone, which as noted has an urban bias. The medianage at first birth among women age 25-49 is highest in the Southern and South Eastern regions (21) andlowest in the Central Highland region (18).The median age at first birth increases with education after primary school. Women with noeducation give birth about four years earlier than women with higher education. The difference in themedian age at first birth is less pronounced by household wealth and remoteness.48 | Fertility, Marriage, and Family Planning