Determinants of time-to-first birth Interval after Marriage amongst Women in Enugu South-East Nigeria

Background: Fertility rates in sub–Saharan Africa remains high and this sets it apart from other regions in the world. Aim: To identify the determinants of time to first birth interval after marriage among women in Enugu South Eastern Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 423 consecutive eligible women attending the family planning clinics of the University of Nigeria Teaching Hospital (UNTH), Enugu and Enugu State University Teaching Hospital (ESUT) Enugu, Nigeria between November 2019 and July 2020. Multivariate logistic regression was used to determine the variables that have effect on the time from marriage to first birth. Results: The mean time to first birth interval after marriage was 28.68 +/- 24.66 months while the median time to first birth interval was 21 months. The determinants of time-to-first birth interval after marriage less than 2 years on multivariate logistic regression were urban residence, participant partners having a skilled job, higher educational level of spouse, being married in a monogamous setting, no history of previous adverse pregnancy event before marriage, non-use of modern contraceptive, no Intimate partner violence and desire for a particular sex of a child after marriage especially male child (P = <0.05). Conclusion: Longer first birth interval is expected to reduce the total fertility rate of a woman. Hence, propagation of effective contraception and cultural changes are essential to bring changes associated with reduced fertility with improved maternal and child wellbeing through elongated birth interval.