Related Determinants of Decision-Making in the First Childbearing of Couples: A Narrative Review

Background: Childbearing behavior refers to a family decision-making process among couples. Objectives: The purpose of this narrative review is to summarize the determinants of decision-making process in the first childbearing of the couples. Methods: The present narrative review study was conducted from 2000 to November 2017. We searched English and Persian articles on the databases of Request, CINAHL, Ovid, PubMed, and Medline using freetext words such as “related factor” and “time of the first child” and the keywords including “decision making”, “childbearing”, “factor influencing child bearing”, and “couples”. The inclusion criteria were the quantities studies regarding the determinants of decision-making process in the first childbearing or various related dimensions. Results: The findings revealed four effective categories including individual, familiar, economic, and social factors. Each of these categories contained a wide range of age, age of marriage, quality of life, marital satisfaction, couples compromise, occupation, family income, educational level, and social support, which may overlap with each other probably due to the complexity of reasons for delayed childbearing. Conclusion: Various factors may affect the process of family decision-making for the first childbearing among couples. Healthcare providers and policymakers should adopt an appropriate strategy to improve the socioeconomic and familial status of the couples to help them reach the desired number of children at a right time.