To reduce the many adverse health outcomes associated with intimate partner violence (IPV), high-risk groups need to be specifically targeted in the fight against domestic violence in India. This study aims to examine the prevalence and correlates of IPV in HIV-positive and HIV-negative women from India. A convenience sample of HIV-positive and HIV-negative women responded to questionnaires to assess their experience and perception of violence. Multivariate logistic regression analysis was used to model the association between IPV and age, education, employment status, contraception use, age at first marriage, and HIV status. Although adjusting for age, education, employment status, contraception use, age at first marriage, and HIV status, women who are employed were 3.5 times more likely to suffer IPV (confidence interval [CI] = [1.5, 8.5]), women aged 18 or above at first marriage are 0.3 times less likely to face IPV (CI = [0.1, 0.6]), and women who use contraception are 7 times more likely to suffer IPV (CI = [1.4, 30.2]). Also, HIV-positive women are 3 times more likely to face sexual violence compared with HIV-negative women (CI = [1.1, 7.6]).

Placental morphometry: weight, surface area, volume and sex of the baby determined the birth weight efficiently to initiate the corrective measures for planning better maternal care and to pacify mothers and their relatives.

No abstract

BackgroundEvidence suggests a strong association between nutrition during the first 1000 days (conception to 2 years of life) and cognitive development. Maternal docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) supplementation has been suggested to be linked with cognitive development of their offspring. DHA is a structural component of human brain and retina, and can be derived from marine algae, fatty fish and marine oils. Since Indian diets are largely devoid of such products, plasma DHA levels are low. We are testing the effect of pre- and post-natal DHA maternal supplementation in India on infant motor and mental development, anthropometry and morbidity patterns.MethodsDHANI is a double-blinded, parallel group, randomized, placebo controlled trial supplementing 957 pregnant women aged 18–35 years from ≤20 weeks gestation through 6 months postpartum with 400 mg/d algal-derived DHA or placebo. Data on the participant’s socio-demographic profile, anthropometric measurements and dietary intake are being recorded at baseline. The mother-infant dyads are followed through age 12 months. The primary outcome variable is infant motor and mental development quotient at 12 months of age evaluated by Development Assessment Scale in Indian Infants (DASII). Secondary outcomes are gestational age, APGAR scores, and infant anthropometry. Biochemical indices (blood and breast-milk) from mother-child dyads are being collected to estimate changes in DHA levels in response to supplementation.All analyses will follow the intent-to-treat principle. Two-sample t test will be used to test unadjusted difference in mean DASII score between placebo and DHA group. Adjusted analyses will be performed using multiple linear regression.DiscussionImplications for maternal and child health and nutrition in India: DHANI is the first large pre- and post-natal maternal dietary supplementation trial in India. If the trial finds substantial benefit, it can serve as a learning to scale up the DHA intervention in the country.Trial registrationThe trial is retrospectively registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT01580345, NCT03072277) and ctri.nic.in (CTRI/2013/04/003540, CTRI/2017/08/009296).