Trends, patterns and predictors of high-risk fertility behaviour among Indian women: evidence from National Family Health Survey.

Background: Numerous studies have demonstrated that high-risk fertility behaviour (HRFB), which includes maternal age below 18 or above 34 years, short birth intervals (less than 24 months), and high parity (birth order above 4), is associated with adverse maternal and child health outcomes. There is a substantial research gap in the domain of high-risk fertility behaviour in the Indian context. Therefore, this study is designed to investigate the current trends and patterns in the prevalence of high-risk births among Indian women, with a primary focus on identifying contributing factors associated with this prevalence.

A study on initiation of postpartum family planning in India based on NFHS-4: does urban poor differ significantly from rural?

Objective: To explore the differentials of postpartum contraceptive adoption between rural and urban poor after adjusting for utilization of MCH services and other selected socioeconomic and demographic covariates.

Methods: The data for this study is taken from the 4th round of NFHS survey conducted in India during 2015-16. The analysis is limited to 125,340 currently married women whose menses had returned at the time of survey.

Experiments in modeling recent Indian fertility pattern.

Modelling is a well-established concept for understanding the typical shape and pattern of age-specific fertility. The distribution of India's age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) is unimodal and positively skewed and is distinct from the ASFR of the developed countries. The existing models (P-K model, Gompertz model, Skew-normal model and G-P model considered here) that were developed, based on the experiences of the developed countries, failed to fit the single-year age-specific fertility pattern for India as a whole and for the six selected states.

Factors explaining the dominion status of female sterilization in India over the past two decades (1992-2016): A multilevel study.

Background: Female sterilization is a permanent method of contraception practiced widely in India. Though, the important evidences of behavior of contraceptives is widespread in the literature, relatively less research has been conducted that explores particularly female sterilization method and how its behavior has remained dominant over the past two decades. The present study aims to examine how the level of women's socio-demographic and fertility related characteristics intersect to shape the behavior for the dominance of female sterilization.

Maternal health care service utilization among young married women in India, 1992-2016: trends and determinants.

Background: Maternal deaths among young women (15-24 years) shares 38% of total maternal mortality in India. Utilizing maternal health care services can reduce a substantial proportion of maternal mortality. However, there is a paucity of studies focusing on young women in this context.

Disaggregated analysis of birth averted due to family planning use in India: An evidence from NFHS-4 (2015-16).

Background And Objective: India contributes a major share of global unintended births. It is established that contraception plays a significant role in preventing unintended pregnancies, maternal mortality and induced abortion. In this study, to analyze the effectiveness of our family welfare program, we tried to give district-level estimates of number of births averted due to contraception.

Count data regression modeling: an application to spontaneous abortion.

Background: In India, around 20,000 women die every year due to abortion-related complications. In count data modeling, there is sometimes a prevalence of zero counts. This article is concerned with the estimation of various count regression models to predict the average number of spontaneous abortions among women in Punjab and few northern states in India.

The levels and trends of contraceptive use before first birth in India (2015-16): a cross-sectional analysis.

Background: Indian women are more prone to first birth at a relatively younger age after marriage. Also, we do not have sufficient literature available that focuses on contraceptive use before first birth. The analysis of the present study was done using data from the fourth round of National Family Health Survey (2015-16), India.

The role of change in fertility desire on change in family planning use: A longitudinal investigation in urban Uttar Pradesh, India.

Reproductive choice is one of the rights of any woman, but women are often ambivalent towards fertility desires and choice of contraception. Our study explores how the change in fertility desires influence the change in use of modern contraception over time in six cities of Uttar Pradesh, India. Data for this study comes from the Measurement, Learning and Evaluation (MLE) Project for Urban Health Initiative in six cities of Uttar Pradesh.

Effect of Graphene and MoS Flakes in Industrial Oils to Enhance Lubrication.

Tribological studies of the 2D nanoadditives such as MoS and graphene are mostly performed in base oils such as SN500, SN150, or paraffin. We have focused on their effect in lubrication properties of industrial oils (e.g.

Single sea urchin-MoO nanostructure for surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy of dyes.

Enhancing the surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) activity of semiconductor metal oxide nanostructures by controlling the morphology and oxygen vacancies towards trace detection of organics is of significant interest. In this study, MoO with a novel sea urchin morphology is synthesized employing chemical bath deposition and consists of hundreds of ∼15 μm long spikes originating from the core forming 20-40 micron globular structures. The spikes taper to form 20 nm sharp tips.

Changes in abortion service provision in Bihar and Jharkhand states, India between 2004 and 2013.

Background: The Medical Termination of Pregnancy (MTP) Act of 1971 liberalized abortion laws in India. This study examines changes in abortion service provision and characteristics of abortion providers in Bihar and Jharkhand states, India between 2004 and 2013.

Methods: We used state-representative data from cross-sectional surveys of reproductive health service providers we conducted in 2004 (N = 1,323) and 2012/2013 (N = 1,020).

Pregnancy risk during menstrual cycle: misconceptions among urban men in India.

Background: In India, where men take most decisions in the family, it is useful that they have adequate knowledge about pregnancy risks during women's menstrual cycles. Since traditional contraceptive methods are still employed by a large population in India, the knowledge regarding the pregnancy risk during the menstrual cycle is indispensable. This research paper attempts to assess the knowledge among urban men in Uttar Pradesh, India about the fertile window of the menstrual cycle; it also attempts to discover the rationales behind the misconceptions about the concept.

Gender inequality and the risk of HIV among married couples in North India.

This study investigated the distribution and determinants of HIV risks among married couples in North India. Gender inequality emerged as a potential driver of HIV risks in this region. Data collection took place in 2003 in a probability survey of 3385 couples living in India's most populous state - Uttar Pradesh - and Uttaranchal.

Couple Interaction and Predicting Vulnerability to Domestic Violence in Uttar Pradesh, India.

Domestic violence, when conducted against women, is a type of gender-based violence that negatively impacts a woman's physical and psychological health, causing insecurity, lack of safety, and loss of health and self-worth. Domestic violence is an important consideration for sexual, reproductive, and child health, as it can affect contraceptive behaviors of couples as well as levels of infant mortality. In the present analysis, an attempt has been made to study the relationship between women's experience of domestic violence and couple interaction after controlling for certain socioeconomic and demographic variables using logistic regression.