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The major causes are pneumonia, diarrhoea, measles, tetanus, and malaria - five diseases which account for two thirds of illness and death among children in the developing world. Over half of the children who succumb to these diseases are weakened by malnutrition.
In addition to the pain of losing a child, a woman may lose the contraceptive effect of breastfeeding - and so become pregnant again too quickly.
If parents cannot be confident of the survival of their children, they are less likely to be interested in family planning. Where child death rates are higher than 100 per 1000 births, contraceptive use generally remains below 20%.
The death of a child
Percentage of ever-married women aged 15-49 who have had at least
one child die
% having % having
at least one at least one
child die child die
-----------------------------------------------------------
Niger 57 Guatemala 31
Mali 55 Kenya 30
Guinea 54 Morocco 30
Malawi 53 Pakistan 30
Burkina Faso 49 Zimbabwe 27
Liberia 47 Ecuador 26
Uganda 47 Indonesia 26
Rwanda 46 Namibia 26
Senegal 45 Tunisia 26
Burundi 43 Peru 25
Madagascar 43 Mexico 23
Togo 42 Turkey 23
Yemen 42 Botswana 22
Zambia 41 Brazil 20
Ghana 40 Jordan 20
Nigeria 40 Philippines 19
Tanzania 40 Dominican Rep. 18
Cameroon 38 Thailand 16
Sudan 38 Paraguay 15
Bangladesh 37 Colombia 13
Bolivia 35 Sri Lanka 13
Nepal 35 El Salvador 12
Egypt 32 Trinidad & Tobago 10
Source: Updated from Women's lives and experiences, DHS 1994.