Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.

<h4>Background</h4>Women's empowerment, education, and economic status are jointly introduced as women's 3E. A number of studies found the significant association of these three variables with maternal health outcomes, but no studies, to the best of knowledge, have been found t...

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Main Authors: Fatima Tuz-Zahura, Kanchan Kumar Sen, Shahnaz Nilima, Wasimul Bari
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2022-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263003
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author Fatima Tuz-Zahura
Kanchan Kumar Sen
Shahnaz Nilima
Wasimul Bari
author_facet Fatima Tuz-Zahura
Kanchan Kumar Sen
Shahnaz Nilima
Wasimul Bari
author_sort Fatima Tuz-Zahura
collection DOAJ
description <h4>Background</h4>Women's empowerment, education, and economic status are jointly introduced as women's 3E. A number of studies found the significant association of these three variables with maternal health outcomes, but no studies, to the best of knowledge, have been found to justify the joint influence of women's 3E on the birth interval. As several studies have revealed that the short birth interval increases the risk of adverse maternal, perinatal, and infant outcomes and it is also responsible for increasing the country's population size, more research is needed on the birth interval. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of women's 3E on the short birth interval after controlling the other selected covariates.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2017-18 have been used to serve the purpose of the study. To measure the birth interval, at least two live births for non-pregnant mothers and at least one live birth for currently pregnant mothers born in the 5 years before the survey were included in the study. The Chi-Square test was applied to know the unadjusted association of the selected covariates including women's 3E with the short birth interval. In order to find out the adjusted association of women's 3E with the short birth interval, sequential binary logistic regression models have been used.<h4>Results</h4>The study found that about 23% of births in Bangladesh were born in a short birth interval. The likelihood of subsequent births of women decreases with an increase in the score of women's 3E before or after controlling the characteristics of women, child, and households. The results of the final model show that mothers with the coverage of 50% - 75%, 75% - 100%, and full coverage (100%) in 3E have a 23%, 41%, and 42% lower odds of having short birth interval compared to mothers with coverage of below 50% in 3E, respectively.<h4>Conclusion and recommendation</h4>Bangladesh still lags behind in meeting the minimum requirements for inter-birth intervals set by the World Health Organization. The study has shown that the 3E in women can contribute in prolonging the duration of subsequent births in Bangladesh. Policy-making interventions are needed to raise awareness among uneducated, under-empowered and economically poor reproductive women through family planning and fertility control programs so that the country can achieve the desired fertility rate.
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spelling doaj.art-a9fdea6c373c421d80d7176e15b389742022-12-21T23:44:33ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032022-01-01171e026300310.1371/journal.pone.0263003Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.Fatima Tuz-ZahuraKanchan Kumar SenShahnaz NilimaWasimul Bari<h4>Background</h4>Women's empowerment, education, and economic status are jointly introduced as women's 3E. A number of studies found the significant association of these three variables with maternal health outcomes, but no studies, to the best of knowledge, have been found to justify the joint influence of women's 3E on the birth interval. As several studies have revealed that the short birth interval increases the risk of adverse maternal, perinatal, and infant outcomes and it is also responsible for increasing the country's population size, more research is needed on the birth interval. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the influence of women's 3E on the short birth interval after controlling the other selected covariates.<h4>Methods</h4>Data from the Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey (BDHS), 2017-18 have been used to serve the purpose of the study. To measure the birth interval, at least two live births for non-pregnant mothers and at least one live birth for currently pregnant mothers born in the 5 years before the survey were included in the study. The Chi-Square test was applied to know the unadjusted association of the selected covariates including women's 3E with the short birth interval. In order to find out the adjusted association of women's 3E with the short birth interval, sequential binary logistic regression models have been used.<h4>Results</h4>The study found that about 23% of births in Bangladesh were born in a short birth interval. The likelihood of subsequent births of women decreases with an increase in the score of women's 3E before or after controlling the characteristics of women, child, and households. The results of the final model show that mothers with the coverage of 50% - 75%, 75% - 100%, and full coverage (100%) in 3E have a 23%, 41%, and 42% lower odds of having short birth interval compared to mothers with coverage of below 50% in 3E, respectively.<h4>Conclusion and recommendation</h4>Bangladesh still lags behind in meeting the minimum requirements for inter-birth intervals set by the World Health Organization. The study has shown that the 3E in women can contribute in prolonging the duration of subsequent births in Bangladesh. Policy-making interventions are needed to raise awareness among uneducated, under-empowered and economically poor reproductive women through family planning and fertility control programs so that the country can achieve the desired fertility rate.https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263003
spellingShingle Fatima Tuz-Zahura
Kanchan Kumar Sen
Shahnaz Nilima
Wasimul Bari
Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.
PLoS ONE
title Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.
title_full Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.
title_fullStr Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.
title_full_unstemmed Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.
title_short Can women's 3E index impede short birth interval? evidence from Bangladesh Demographic and Health Survey, 2017-18.
title_sort can women s 3e index impede short birth interval evidence from bangladesh demographic and health survey 2017 18
url https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0263003
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