Definition
For women who gave birth in the 3 years before the survey's calendar period, PRECABSMO (V434) reports the calculated months of postpartum abstinence after the birth of the last child born in the 3 years preceding the start of the calendar. The survey's calendar period is typically 5 years, meaning PRECABSMO usually refers to births between 6 and 8 years before the survey.
The maximum period of postpartum abstinence allowed during the creation of PRECABSMO was the interval between the date of birth of the child and the date of the interview. When the duration was one month longer than the interval, the duration was shortened by one month. These edited cases are coded with a flag in PRECABSFLAG (V435).