Are Teenagers at High Risk of Poor Birth Outcomes in India? A Comparison of Urban and Rural Areas

Abstract

Young maternal age has far-reaching implications on women’s as well as children’s health. Therefore, the objective of this study is to examine the effect of young maternal age on size of the baby at birth and infant loss by place of residence. For this purpose, the National Family Health Survey (NFHS)-3, India data have been used. NFHS-3 collected detailed information on birth histories and socio-economic characteristics of women as well as households. This information has been used to fulfil the objectives of the study. In this study, adolescent women refer to women who had their birth at the age of 19 or below. Logistic regression analysis is used to see the net effect of young maternal age on the size of the baby at birth and infant loss. The bi-variate analysis showed that the percent of births with small size babies and infant loss was higher among adolescent mothers as compared with adult mothers. The logistic regression analysis showed that the likelihood of having small size babies and infant loss was higher among births to adolescent women than adult women in urban areas.