A Study On The Causes Of Imbalanced Sex Ratio At Birth

According to the censuses of our country in recent three decades, the sex ratio at birth increased gradually, and in some areas, was in serious imbalance.In order to explore the current situation of the sex ratio at birth and its contributing factors in the northeast rural areas of our country, field investigations in Fuyu County of Jilin Province and Naiman County of the east Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region were carried out. Meanwhile, the cases of induced abortion at the middle gestational period were examined in the hospitals in Changchun City and Jilin City, and the fetal sex of the pregnant women with induced abortion at their early gestational period and of those who went for their regular antenatal check-up was identified. The current situation of the sex ratio and its contributing factors in the early, middle and late gestational periods, and at birth and 0-year of age group were described.MethodsFive townships were selected in each of the above two counties, respectively, with stratified and cluster sampling methods. The babies who were born between January 1989 and June 1992, including those live at birth and died immediately after birth, were investigated from door to door. The babies, who were born between January 1989 and the date when the study began, were investigated retrospectively and those who were born between the date when the study began and June 1992 were investigated prospectively. The babies' mothers were interviewed about their babies' sex, birthdate, the causes of death if they died, and their access to medical care within one year after their birth. Besides, the pregnant women with the history of induced abortion between January 1989 and June 1992 were interviewed about the sex of their aborted fetuses, as well.