Effect of Women’s Decision-Making Autonomy on Infant’s Birth Weight in Rural Bangladesh

Sharma, Arpana; Kader, Manzur

doi:10.1155/2013/159542

Cited by 23 publications

(25 citation statements)

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“…Adequate surveillance programmes are required at governmental and non‐governmental levels to effectively change nutrition, health and food security status . The data collected by this study indicate a need to empower and educate women in Bangladesh . We recommend that effective food safety net programmes should be developed and extended in the targeted areas where child malnutrition, child illness and HFI are most prevalent .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low maternal education and socio‐economic status were associated with household food insecurity in children under five with diarrhoea in Bangladesh

et al. 2016

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Aim Household food insecurity (HFI) is insufficient access to nutritionally safe and adequate foods to meet the dietary needs for an active and healthy life. We examined the prevalence and determinants of HFI in Bangladeshi children under five with diarrhoea. Methods This study included 365 children (55% boys) who had diarrhoea in the two weeks before the 2011 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey (BDHS‐2011). The Household Food Insecurity Access Scale (HFIAS) was used to assess HFI and Pearson's chi‐square test and binary logistic regression analysis were used to investigate the association between HFI and multilevel factors. Results The prevalence of HFI among children under five with diarrhoea in the two weeks prior to the BDHS‐2011 survey was 48%. HFI was significantly higher among the children of uneducated mothers, who were two times more likely to experience HFI, with an adjusted odds ratio (OR) of 2.14 and children who were from the lowest socio‐economic status families, who were more than seven times more likely to experience HFI, with an adjusted OR of 7.55. Conclusion Low maternal education and low socio‐economic status were significantly associated with HFI in Bangladeshi children under five with diarrhoea and public health campaigns should take this into account.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low maternal education and socio‐economic status were associated with household food insecurity in children under five with diarrhoea in Bangladesh

et al. 2016

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“…If, as the evidence suggests, outcomes for patients are improved when they take an active role in their own care and are empowered to do so by healthcare professionals, it seems logical that outcomes for future children will improve when the individuals most connected to and invested in their wellbeing are empowered in this way. This is supported by studies in Bangladesh and Nepal which indicate that children born to mothers who have more power to make decisions in their everyday lives and regarding their medical care, have better outcomes than those born to women whose autonomy is less respected [3,50]. This is to be expected once the pregnant woman is recognised as a protector rather than a threat to the future child.…”

Section: Do Such Interventions Cause More Harm To Future Children Thamentioning

confidence: 90%

“…This policy sends out a message to pregnant women that they cannot be trusted either to truthfully answer questions about whether or not they smoke, or to make the right decisions in the interests of themselves and their future children in the way non-pregnant individuals can. Not only does this raise ethical concerns because it involves unequal respect for the autonomy of pregnant women compared to individuals who are not pregnant, but it is also likely to have a negative impact on the health outcomes for pregnant women and their future children as research suggests that respecting the autonomy of pregnant women is linked to better outcomes for mother and babies [3,50].…”

Section: Does Routine Carbon Monoxide Testing Reduce Rates Of Smokingmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Thirdly, it is likely that outcomes for future children are improved when the autonomy of their mothers is respected during pregnancy [3,50]. In this context, respecting autonomy requires that women are encouraged to pay an active role in their own care and that they are trusted to be the ultimate decision makers, with health professionals supporting their decisions.…”

Section: Do Such Interventions Cause More Harm To Future Children Thamentioning

confidence: 99%

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Are We Justified in Introducing Carbon Monoxide Testing to Encourage Smoking Cessation in Pregnant Women?

Bowden

2018

Health Care Anal

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Smoking is frequently presented as being particularly problematic when the smoker is a pregnant woman because of the potential harm to the future child. This premise is used to justify targeting pregnant women with a unique approach to smoking cessation including policies such as the routine testing of all pregnant women for carbon monoxide at every antenatal appointment. This paper examines the evidence that such policies are justified by the aim of harm prevention and argues that targeting pregnant women in this way is likely to do more harm than good. Routine carbon monoxide testing is particularly problematic as it sends a message to pregnant women that they cannot be trusted either to truthfully answer questions as to whether or not they smoke, or to make decisions in the best interests of themselves and their future children in the way that non-pregnant individuals are. Further, if the aim is to reduce rates of prenatal harm, the evidence suggests that adopting a supportive and empowering approach to prenatal care is the most effective way to achieve this, something that the current policies aimed at pregnant women are in conflict with.

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“…The association between high WEI and LBW has also been reported previously. A study from rural Bangladesh evaluated the effect of women's decision making autonomy on infant's birth weight using 6 indicator variables [56]. The authors' reported that women with the lowest (1 st tertile) autonomy had a 40% higher risk of having a LBW infant compared to women with the highest (3 rd tertile) autonomy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Women’s empowerment is associated with maternal nutrition and low birth weight: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey

Kabir

Rashid

Hossain

et al. 2020

Preprint

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KEYWORDSWomen's empowerment, maternal nutrition, low birth weight, principal component analysis, Bangladesh, demographic health survey 2 Abstract Background : The burden of maternal undernutrition and low birth weight (LBW) incurs enormous economic costs due to their adverse consequences. Women's empowerment is believed to be one of the key factors for attaining maternal and child health and nutritional goals. Our objective was to investigate the association of women's empowerment with maternal undernutrition and LBW.Methods : We used nationally representative data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey for 2011 and 2014. We analysed 27,357 women and 9,234 mother-child pairs. A women's empowerment index (WEI) was constructed using principal component analysis with five groups of indicators: a) education, b) access to socio-familial decision making, c) economic contribution and access to economic decision making, d) attitudes towards domestic violence and e) mobility. We estimated odds ratios as the measure of association between the WEI and the outcome measures using generalized estimating equations to account for the cluster level correlation. Results:The overall prevalence of maternal undernutrition was 20% and LBW was 18%. The WEI was significantly associated with both maternal undernutrition and LBW with a dose-response relationship. The adjusted odds of having a LBW baby was 32% [AOR (95% CI):0.68 (0.57, 0.82)] lower in the highest quartile of the WEI relative to the lowest quartile. Household wealth significantly modified the effect of the WEI on maternal nutrition.; in the highest wealth quintile, the odds of maternal undernutrition was 54% [AOR (95% CI): 0.46 (0.33, 0.64)] lower while in the lowest wealth quintile the odds of undernutrition was only 18% [AOR (95% CI): 0.82 (0.67, 1.00)] lower comparing the highest WEI quartile with the lowest WEI quartile. However, the absolute differences in prevalence of undernutrition between the highest and lowest WEI quartiles were similar across wealth quintiles (6-8%). Conclusions: This study used a comprehensive measure of women's empowerment and provides strong evidence that low levels of women's empowerment is associated with maternal undernutrition as well as with delivering LBW babies in Bangladesh. Therefore, policies to increase empowerment of women would contribute to improved public health. Background About half of the world's population is affected by maternal and child under-nutrition [1, 2]. Undernourishment of women in reproductive age is more common in South Asia than any other region [3]. In the South Asian region, prevalence of maternal undernutrition varies between 10 and 40% [1]. Particularly in Bangladesh, the prevalence of undernutrition among females is much higher than any other developing country, [3] with more than 30% women of reproductive age reported to be malnourished [4]. Maternal under-nutrition has persistently been reported to be a major contributor to morbidity, mortality and poor birth outcomes including low birth weight (LB...

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Effect of Women’s Decision-Making Autonomy on Infant’s Birth Weight in Rural Bangladesh

Cited by 23 publications

References 24 publications

Low maternal education and socio‐economic status were associated with household food insecurity in children under five with diarrhoea in Bangladesh

Low maternal education and socio‐economic status were associated with household food insecurity in children under five with diarrhoea in Bangladesh

Are We Justified in Introducing Carbon Monoxide Testing to Encourage Smoking Cessation in Pregnant Women?

Women’s empowerment is associated with maternal nutrition and low birth weight: Evidence from Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey

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