Son preference and its effect on fertility in India

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/The effect of son preference on fertility varies substantially by region and state. The NFHS Subject Reports is a series summarizing secondary analysis of data from the 1992-93 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in India. The NFHS collected information from nearly 90,000 Indian women on a range of demographic and health topics. Conducted under the auspices of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the survey provides national and state-level estimates of fertility, infant and child mortality, family planning practice, maternal and child health, and the utilization of services available to mothers and children. IIPS conducted the survey in cooperation with consulting organizations and 18 population research centers throughout India. The East-West Center and a U.S.-based consulting firm, Macro International, provided technical assistance, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided financial support. Printed copies are available from the East-West Center Research Program, Population and Health Studies. Single copies are available free by airmail and may be reproduced for educational use

Is son preference slowing down India's transition to low fertility?

For more about the East-West Center, see http://www.eastwestcenter.org/Without gender preference, national-level fertility in India would decrease by about 8 percent. The NFHS Bulletin is a series of four-page policy briefs summarizing secondary analysis of data from the 1992-93 National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in India. The NFHS collected information from nearly 90,000 Indian women on a range of demographic and health topics. Conducted under the auspices of the Indian Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the survey provides national and state-level estimates of fertility, infant and child mortality, family planning practice, maternal and child health, and the utilization of services available to mothers and children. IIPS conducted the survey in cooperation with consulting organizations and 18 population research centers throughout India. The East-West Center and a U.S.-based consulting firm, Macro International, provided technical assistance, and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) provided financial support. Printed copies are available from the East-West Center Research Program, Population and Health Studies. Single copies are available free by airmail and may be reproduced for educational use

Factors and Consequences of Home Deliveries: A Study in Rural Karnataka

The main focus of this paper is to understand the factors influencing the place of delivery, and why women preferring home deliveries in rural areas though a large number of health institutions such as subcentres, primary health centres and community health centres exists. To highlight these dimensions a study was conducted in three districts of Karnataka state. The respondents for the study were women who had had at least one child during last three years. The study finds that though primary health care services have expanded in recent years, deliveries conducted in health institutions or deliveries assisted by trained personnel are very few. Over half the deliveries are unsafe. Several factors have contributed to this phenomenon. They are: time of delivery, illiteracy, economic conditions of women, customs of natal home, transportation and place of stay of health workers. Moreover, most health centres do not have women medical officers in position, and the lack of staff and inadequate facilities at subcentres and hospitals is an important factor as well. Nearly half the infants died due to maternal causes among women who had deliveries at home. The causes of infant death are: premature delivery, infection in the umbilical cord, being accidentally hit on the head while delivery, breach presentation, severe anaemia of mother, etc. These problems could be easily solved if women are provided with good antenatal services, adequate rest and nutrition during pregnancy and counselled to deliver at health institution. Therefore, one has to promote institutional deliveries to reduce perinatal and neonatal mortality rate. Also there is need to strengthen the dai training programme as a traditional dai would be easily accessible to women in rural areas. </jats:p