Peer-reviewed article
Planning of births and maternal, child health, and nutritional outcomes: recent evidence from India
Md Juel Rana, Abhishek Gautam, Srinivas Goli, Uttamacharya, Tamal Reja et al. ·
Summary
Written by AI, not yet AICS's view · claude-haiku-4-5-20251001This study analysed data from India's National Family Health Survey to examine how birth planning—including timing, spacing, and number of children—affects the health and nutrition of mothers and children. Researchers found that women with more births and those who had their first child within 2 years of marriage were more likely to be underweight and anaemic. Similarly, children born to women with many pregnancies or short intervals between births had higher rates of stunting, being underweight, anaemia, and under-five mortality. The findings suggest that better birth planning could improve health outcomes for mothers and children across India.
Key points
- Women with higher number of births had significantly higher risk of being underweight and anaemic
- First births within 2 years of marriage were associated with increased maternal underweight and anaemia
- Children from women with higher birth numbers and less than 3 years spacing between births had higher rates of underweight, stunting, anaemia, and under-five mortality
- Study used two-stage systematic random sampling from the latest National Family Health Survey data
- Findings support birth planning as a strategy to achieve SDG-3 targets in India
Limitations
This is a cross-sectional analysis of survey data, so causation cannot be established and reverse causality cannot be ruled out. The study does not evaluate a specific intervention but rather examines associations between birth planning practices and health outcomes.
Abstract
OBJECTIVES: In an effort to provide recommendation for maximizing synergy between maternal, infant, and young children's nutrition and family planning in India, this study makes a comprehensive assessment of the effects of the planning of births in terms of timing, spacing and limiting childbearing on maternal and child health outcomes. STUDY DESIGN: This study used the latest National Family Health Survey data of India that is globally known as the Demographic and Health Survey. A robust two-stage systematic random sampling was used for selecting representative samples for measuring demographic and health indicators. METHODS: Maternal and child health outcomes are measured by body mass index (grouped as normal, underweight, and overweight) and anemia for mothers, and stunting, underweight, anemia, and under-five mortality for the children. Logistic regression and Cox proportional hazard models were applied. RESULTS: Women with a higher number of births and among those with first-order births with fewer than 2 years between marriage and first birth, the risk of being underweight and having anemia was significantly higher compared with their counterparts. In addition, the probability of being underweight and risk of stunting, anemia, and mortality was higher among the children from women with a higher number of births and with fewer than 3 years of spacing between births than that of their counterparts. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study support the importance of birth planning in improving maternal, child health, and nutritional outcomes. The proper planning of births could help to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal-3 of good health and well-being for all by 2030 in India, where a significant proportion of women still participate in early marriages, early childbearing, and a large number of births with close spacing.