Mosfequr Rahman

Women’s Autonomy and Unintended Pregnancy Among Currently Pregnant Women in Bangladesh

This paper examines the net effect of women’s autonomy on their pregnancy intention status among currently pregnant Bangladeshi women. This study is based on data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 2007 (BDHS). A subset of interviews from currently pregnant women (718) were extracted from 10,146 married women of reproductive age. The BDHS 2007 used a pre-tested, structured questionnaire to collect sociodemographic, women’s empowerment, and pregnancy information. Associations between unintended pregnancy and explanatory variables were assessed using bivariate analysis. Logistic regression was used to assess the net effect of women’s autonomy on current pregnancy intention status after controlling for other variables. Results indicate that women’s autonomy is a significant predictor of unintended pregnancy after adjusting for other factors. A unit increase in the autonomy scale decreases the odds of unintended pregnancy by 16%. Besides autonomy, our results also indicate that current age, number of children ever born, age at marriage, religion, media access, and contraceptive use exert strong influences over unintended pregnancy. Women who have ever used contraceptives are 82% more likely to classify their current pregnancies as unintended compared with women who are non-users of contraceptives. Improvement in women’s autonomy and effective and efficient use of contraceptives may reduce unintended pregnancies as well as improve reproductive health outcomes.

Intimate Partner Violence and Unintended Pregnancy Among Bangladeshi Women

This study examined the relationship between intimate partner violence (IPV) and unintended pregnancy using data from women reporting IPV in the 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey. The analysis included 4,695 married women, aged 15 to 40 years, who had at least one birth in the last 5 years. Bivariate and multiple logistic regression analyses were performed to assess the relationship between IPV and pregnancy. About one third (30.4%) of women were abused physically and/or sexually and about one third (30.9%) of their births in the last 5 years were unintended. Compared with women who suffered no IPV, women who were abused sexually had a 1.64-fold increased risk of unintended pregnancy, which is higher than those who suffered physical abuse only (odds ratio: 1.35). The prevalence of unintended pregnancy among those who experienced severe physical violence was 1.60 times higher than those who reported no abuse. The findings indicate a significant relationship between IPV and unintended pregnancy among Bangladeshi women.

Association between adolescent marriage and intimate partner violence : a study of young adult women in Bangladesh

This study explores the association between adolescent marriage and intimate partner violence (IPV) among young adult women using 2007 Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey data. The analyses are restricted to young women 20 to 24 years old. Logistic regression analyses are constructed to estimate the odds ratios and 95% confidence intervals for the association between adolescent marriage and IPV in the past year. Results show that there is a strong significant relationship between adolescent marriage and experience of physical IPV in the past year among this population. Association between sexual IPV and adolescent marriage is insignificant. Adolescent marriage puts women at increased risk of physical IPV into their young adult period. Government agencies need to enforce existing law on the minimum age at marriage to reduce IPV among adolescent and young adult girls.

Association between order of birth and chronic malnutrition of children: a study of nationally representative Bangladeshi sample

This paper examines the net effect of birth order on child nutritional status in Bangladesh using data from the Bangladesh Demographic Health Survey, 2011 (BDHS). Analyses were restricted to 4,120 surviving, lastborn singleton children who were younger than 36 months at the time of the survey. Logistic regression was used to assess the association between birth order and child nutritional status. Results indicate 38.1% children are stunted and 8.2% children are fifth or higher order birth. Order of birth is one of the significant predictors of child being stunted. Third order, fourth order, and fifth or higher order children are 24%, 30%, and 72%, respectively, more likely to be stunted after adjusting for all other variables. Besides birth order, results also indicate that child age, size at birth, birth intention, maternal education, maternal body mass index, wealth index, place of residence and mass media access exert strong influences over child malnutrition. Reducing birth rates which limit number of births and birth order as well may reduce child malnutrition in Bangladesh.

Social inequalities and the context of vulnerabilities: HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention knowledge among married women

ABSTRACT Worldwide, socioeconomically disadvantaged women bear disproportionate risks of HIV infection. To examine if the individual and community-level socioeconomic disadvantages further increase their vulnerabilities, we used Bangladesh Demographic and Health Surveys. Between 2004 and 2014, we found pronounced disparities in HIV/AIDS prevention knowledge among women based on their socioeconomic status and community context. We observed substantial growth of knowledge among all women while the greatest growth occurred among those living in the disadvantaged communities. There is a need for greater understanding of the social determinants to develop and implement HIV/AIDS education programs that would benefit all segments of the population.