Working from the 1977 Haitian Fertility Survey, Allman sets out what was then known about childbearing in a country where three-quarters of the population farmed and income per head sat below US$270. Fertility proved moderate rather than high, with a marked gap between town and countryside, though he cautions that one survey cannot establish a trend and that the 1982 census would be needed to confirm any movement.

Explaining the level means attending to what demography usually handles badly here: legal marriage is uncommon, unions take varied and sometimes polygamous forms, breastfeeding is long but shortening fastest among young urban mothers, and heavy male emigration removes many women from exposure to pregnancy. About a quarter of exposed women used contraception, mostly traditional methods, and many who had never used any said they meant to. Allman expects rapid uptake if modern methods reach rural areas, whatever the economy does.