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Ramesh Babu Kafle

data and does not reflect the behavioral changes related to fertility decisions that are occurred over
time. Future studies from prospective cohorts are clearly warranted.
5. Conclusion

An early start of childbearing and having at least two children is still prevalent in Nepal. A substan-
tial decline in both the pace and the incidence of childbearing after two children is clearly visible
with some temporal effect. Factors associated with delay of the second birth include being from a
younger age cohort, having more education, working in the non-agricultural sector, having a
first birth more recently and at older age, having a male first child, and being from better economic
status. Socioeconomic and demographic factors play a more pronounced role in explaining variation
in birth intervals for higher order births. There is further scope of decline in the pace of childbearing
and also the fertility level among uneducated women, those from poorest household wealth quintiles,
and those working in agriculture sector. Similarly, improvement in child survival status and the eli-
mination of son preference would also help fertility decline further.
Author Contributions

Ramesh B K conceptualized, performed data analysis, and wrote the paper.

Conflicts of Interest and Funding

No conflict of interest is reported by all authors.
Acknowledgements

The author acknowledges Prof PM Kulkarni for his guidance in preparation of this paper. Similarly,
the author also acknowledges the anonymous reviewers and the editor for their valuable inputs in the
paper.

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