Prevalence of malformations was 1.2 % of the total live births. Musculoskeletal system was the most common system involved. Congenital malformations were significantly associated with sex of the new born, registration of the mother and birth weight of the newborn.

Abstract:Stroke in the Young: A Four-Year Study, 1968 to 1972

Girls have traditionally been neglected in India. The neglect is reflected in adverse sex ratio of 914 girls per 1000 boys as reported in 2011 census. The declining sex ratio can be prevented by the registration of female children and by ensuring their progress and safety. The study aims at finding the effect of the introduction of a conditional cash transfer scheme ('Majoni' scheme) upon the registration of a female child. It was a hospital record-based study where the preferential treatment of female children during registration into the birth register before and after the introduction of the Majoni scheme was measured. An effect of the scheme on the registration of male and female children was also compared. The introduction of this scheme increased the female to male ratio of applications for the registration of births from 1.06 to 1.34 and also increased the number of formal requests for the registration of the birth of a female child from 24.45% to 39.05%. Financial incentives or securities have been shown to modify human behavior. The increase in the numbers of applications for the registration of a female child, after the introduction of the 'Majoni' scheme was due to the financial incentive attached with the registration. The increasing trend in the number of applications with every passing month was probably due to the increase in awareness regarding the benefit of the scheme. Conditional cash transfer schemes, such as Majoni, can have a significant effect on increasing the registration of female children. Further study is required to evaluate the effect of the factors other than the financial incentive upon the registration of female children.

Background: Early or timely initiation of breastfeeding, specifically within 1 hour of birth has benefits for survival and beyond and it is recommended by the World Health Organization. Breastfeeding initiation after the first hour of birth doubles the risk of neonatal mortality. The present study has been conducted to estimate the prevalence and determine the factors affecting early initiation of breastfeeding in rural areas of Dibrugarh, district, Assam.Methods: Community based cross sectional study from May 2017 to April 2018 among mothers having children in the age group 0 to 23 months in the rural areas of Dibrugarh district. The sample size calculated for the study was 360 children.Results: The results were analyzed for 334 children. Prevalence of early initiation of breastfeeding was found to be 54.8%. On multivariate regression analysis the occupation and education of mothers, number of antenatal checkup visits, type of delivery and religion were found to be independently associated with early initiation of breastfeeding.Conclusions: This study reveals that the early initiation of breast feeding is lower in rural areas of Dibrugarh district. The findings clearly highlight the importance of imparting health education to family members and mothers right from antenatal period on infant and child feeding practices.

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