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Total fertility

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Total fertility  (TOTAL fertility)


Demographic studies of fertility1 (621-3) deal with certain phenomena connected with human reproduction2. The term natality1 is sometimes used instead of fertility. These studies are mainly concerned with births3 and the birth rate (630-1) of populations and with the factors affecting them. A birth is the act or process of delivering a child. A distinction used to be made between a live birth4 resulting in the delivery (603-4*) of a live-born child5 and a stillbirth (410-6), the delivery after about the sixth month of pregnancy of a foetus that died before or during delivery. The term effective fertility6 has sometimes been used when late foetal deaths (410-6), and in some cases the deaths of infants or children, are excluded from consideration. The term total fertility7 has on occasions been used to refer to live births and late foetal deaths combined.

  • 1. fertility n. — fertile adj.
  • 2. reproduction n. — reproduce v. — reproductive adj.
  • 3. It is becoming more and more common, to use the term birth to mean live births in view of the introduction of the term late foetal death for still births (410-6*).


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