BackgroundWhile studies on fertility and contraceptives issues are available, until recently adolescent motherhood has not received enough attention among policy makers in understanding adolescent motherhood in Bangladesh. We aimed to examine the trends and determinants of adolescent motherhood among women aged 15–49 years.MethodsFor trend analysis we used all the 7 waves of Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS, 1993–2014) data but for multivariate analysis 4 waves of BDHS (2004–2014). Two separate analyses were carried out on ever married women aged 15–49: (1) teenage girls aged 15–19 and (2) adult women aged 20 and above.ResultsThe prevalence of adolescent motherhood had declined to a slower pace from 1993 to2014 (from 33.0% to 30.8%). Lower spousal age gap and higher education were found to be associated with lower likelihood of adolescent motherhood both among teenage girls [OR 0.447 (0.374–0.533)] and adult women [OR 0.451 (0.420–0.484)]. Teenage girls in the poorest wealth quintile [OR 1.712 [1.350–2.173] were more likely to experience adolescent motherhood than the richest wealth quintile. Teenage girls who had no education were found to have 2.76 times higher odds of adolescent motherhood than their counterparts who had higher than secondary education. Concerning the time effect, the odds of adolescent motherhood among adult women was found to decline overtime.ConclusionsDespite substantial decrease in total fertility rate in Bangladesh adolescent motherhood is still highly prevalent though declining from 1993 to 2014. Social policies including those addressing poverty, ensuring greater emphasis on education for women; and adolescent mothers in rural areas are needed.

Rohinga refugees in Bangladesh are under significant health risks and it has become a challenge to address their health needs. There is need to scale up health services and increase access to essential reproductive health and child newborn care, especially for Rohingyas living in hard-to-reach areas.

No abstract

Background: Recent internal migration flows from rural to urban areas pose challenges to women using reproductive health care services in their migratory destinations. No studies were found which examined the relationship between migration, migration-associated indicators and reproductive health care services in Bangladesh. Methods: We analyzed the 2006 Bangladesh Urban Health Survey (data made publically available in June 2013) of 14,191 ever-married women aged 10-59 years. Cross tabulations and logistic regression were conducted. Results: Migrants and non-migrants did not differ significantly in their use of modern contraceptives and treatment for STI but were less likely to receive ANC even after controlling for a range of variables. Compared to non-migrants, more migrants had home births, did not take vitamin A after delivery, and had no medical exam post-birth. Migrant women being village-born (rather than urban-born) were associated with risk of diminished: use of ANC; treatment for STI; medical exam post-birth; vitamin A post-birth. Migrating for work or education (rather than other reasons) was associated with risk of diminished: use of ANC; use of modern facilities for birth; and medical exam post-birth. Each additional year lived in urban areas was associated with a greater likelihood of receiving ANC. Conclusions: Women who migrated to urban areas in Bangladesh were significantly less likely than non-migrants to use reproductive health care services related to pregnancy care. Pro-actively identifying migrant women, especially those who originated from villages or migrated for work or education may be warranted to ensure optimal use of pregnancy-related services.

workers, it might not be possible to provide adequate services to the refugees without increasing the risk of SARS-CoV-2 infection; health-care workers are at the most risk of contracting SARS-CoV-2. 8 Limited financial aids and overcrowded and unhealthy living conditions can make their situation worse. 9 A study from May 2020, showed that COVID-19 symptoms are highly prevalent in Cox's Bazar, especially in refugee camps. 4 Another study from June, 2020, showed that a largescale outbreak is likely to happen after the introduction of the virus to the camps. 10 Bangladesh declared the Cox's Bazar areas near the Rohingya refugee camps as the first red zone (an area considered to be at very high risk for an outbreak) for COVID-19 on June 6, 2020. Thus, to reduce further spread of SAR-CoV-2, more attention is urgently needed on adequate and effective interventions, including increasing awareness about COVID-19 among Rohingya refugees. Otherwise, the Rohingya refugees and the host community are likely to be heavily affected by COVID-19.We declare no competing interests.