Impact of Sumadhur intervention on fertility and family planning decision-making norms: a mixed methods study.

Background: Mindful of social norms shaping health among women pressured to prove early fertility in Nepal, a bi-national research team developed and piloted a 4-month intervention engaging household triads (newly married women, their husbands, and mothers-in-law) toward advancing gender equity, personal agency, and reproductive health. This study evaluates the impact on family planning and fertility decision-making.

Methods: In 2021, Sumadhur was piloted in six villages with 30 household triads (90 participants).

The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Nawalparasi District of Nepal: a mixed methods assessment of increased alcohol use and violence against women.

Background: In Nepal and across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has primed an environment for increased rates of violence against women (VAW). This paper explores pandemic-driven economic insecurity and increased alcohol use as instigators of VAW and Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) within newly married households in the rural, Nawalparasi region of Nepal.

Methods: This study is a secondary analysis of data obtained from the Sumadhur Intervention pilot study that has been previously described and demonstrates successful implementation of group-based, household-level intervention for women's empowerment and sexual and reproductive health education (1).

Patient perspectives on barriers in obtaining timely abortion care in Los Angeles, California.

Objectives: Although California is a state with supportive abortion policies, recent evidence suggests people may still encounter barriers to obtaining timely abortion care. To provide an in-depth understanding of these barriers and augment existing literature focusing on restrictive and hostile states, we sought to understand the patient perspectives of barriers to timely abortion care in Los Angeles, California.

Study Design: We recruited participants from two, high-volume urban clinical sites and conducted semi-structured interviews with 17 individuals who visited three or more clinics and/or encountered more than 2 weeks between seeking and obtaining their abortion.

The COVID-19 Pandemic in the Nawalparasi District of Nepal: A Mixed Methods Assessment of Increased Alcohol Use and Intimate Partner Violence.

In Nepal and across the globe, the COVID-19 pandemic has primed an environment for increased rates of intimate partner violence (IPV). This paper examines how the upstream factors of alcohol use and economic insecurity in the Nawalparasi district of Nepal has brought about higher rates of IPV among newly married women. This study is a secondary analysis of data obtained from the Intervention pilot study that has been previously described and demonstrates successful implementation of group-based, household-level intervention for women's empowerment and sexual and reproductive health education (1).

The development and feasibility of a group-based household-level intervention to improve preconception nutrition in Nawalparasi district of Nepal.

Background: In a setting such as Nepal with malnutrition and persistent poor maternal and infant health outcomes, developing interventions to improve the nutrition of preconception and pregnant women is essential.

Objective: The objectives of this paper are to describe the full design process of an intervention for newly married women, their husbands, and mothers-in-law to improve maternal nutrition and gender norms, and findings from the feasibility and acceptability pilot.

Methods: In this paper we describe the three phases of the design of an intervention in rural Nepal.