Assessment of Levels of Unwanted Childbearing and its Health Consequences for Mothers in Rural Bangladesh

Over the last century, a central rationale behind organized family planning programs has been the prevention of unintended pregnancies and the associated adverse consequences to families.

Yet, despite deeply ingrained beliefs concerning the deleterious effects of unintended childbearing for both children and parents, evidence on this association remains limited and characterized by serious measurement and methodological shortcomings, particularly in low resource countries where unintended childbearing and adverse health risks remain high.

The objectives of this project are to

• assess the role of husbands in influencing unwanted childbearing in rural Bangladesh 
• assess the association between unwanted childbearing and subsequent early childhood mortality and educational attainment, through the analysis of matched sibling data. 

The findings of this project will make important substantive contributions to understanding the contributing role of unwanted childbearing to adverse child and maternal health outcomes in resource poor settings such as Bangladesh, and also to understanding the potential contributions that effective family planning programs can make to improving maternal and child survival and educational attainment.

Principal Investigators:  Michael Koenig (JHSPH)

Co-Investigators:

• John Casterline (Pennsylvania State University)
• Jessica Simpson (JHSPH)
• Mian Bazle Hossain (Morgan State University)

Publications