IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/poprpr/v44y2025i2d10.1007_s11113-025-09947-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Defining and Characterizing Temporary Childbirth Migration in India

Author

Listed:
  • Nadia G. Diamond-Smith

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Rutuja Patil

    (KEM Hospital Research Centre)

  • Dhiraj Agarwal

    (KEM Hospital Research Centre)

  • Rachel Murro

    (University of California San Francisco)

  • Shrish Raut

    (Bharati Vidyapeeth Deemed to be University Medical College)

  • Sanjay Juvekar

    (KEM Hospital Research Centre)

  • Alison M. El Ayadi

    (University of California)

Abstract

Women returning to their natal homes for pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum is common and understudied in South Asia, with important implications for maternal and newborn health policies, as well as data quality and interpretation. Using data from 1252 women residing in a Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in Maharashtra, India we explore timing, duration and associated socio-economic factors with Temporary Childbirth Migration (TCM). Our overall goal is to develop a definition of temporary childbirth migration and situate it within demographic migration theory. Most (80%) of women migrated for over 1 month in the last trimester of pregnancy, with a sizeable proportion (22%) departing immediately after delivery. Socio-demographic factors were not associated with migrating during pregnancy; migrating postpartum was associated with younger age and higher education. Based on these findings, we propose a definition of Temporary childbirth Migration as a form of migration from husbands to natal homes and back, for at least one month duration, with departure and return at any time in the perinatal period. Given the potentially large number of women moving location for an extended duration in every pregnancy (in a country of over 1.4 billion), programs providing services to pregnant women and newborns should take this phenomenon into consideration. Additionally, data collection efforts at the clinical and household level should understand that women’s place of delivery or receipt of prenatal or postnatal services may differ from her normal place of residence.

Suggested Citation

  • Nadia G. Diamond-Smith & Rutuja Patil & Dhiraj Agarwal & Rachel Murro & Shrish Raut & Sanjay Juvekar & Alison M. El Ayadi, 2025. "Defining and Characterizing Temporary Childbirth Migration in India," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 44(2), pages 1-19, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:44:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11113-025-09947-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11113-025-09947-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11113-025-09947-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11113-025-09947-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Shelah Bloom & David Wypij & Monica Gupta, 2001. "Dimensions of women’s autonomy and the influence on maternal health care utilization in a north indian city," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 38(1), pages 67-78, February.
    2. Farzana Afridi & Taryn Dinkelman & Kanika Mahajan, 2018. "Why are fewer married women joining the work force in rural India? A decomposition analysis over two decades," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 31(3), pages 783-818, July.
    3. Keera Allendorf, 2013. "Going Nuclear? Family Structure and Young Women’s Health in India, 1992–2006," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 50(3), pages 853-880, June.
    4. Diane Coffey & John Papp & Dean Spears, 2015. "Short-Term Labor Migration from Rural North India: Evidence from New Survey Data," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 34(3), pages 361-380, June.
    5. Naila Kabeer, 1999. "Resources, Agency, Achievements: Reflections on the Measurement of Women's Empowerment," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 30(3), pages 435-464, July.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Annan, Jeannie & Donald, Aletheia & Goldstein, Markus & Gonzalez Martinez, Paula & Koolwal, Gayatri, 2021. "Taking power: Women’s empowerment and household Well-being in Sub-Saharan Africa," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 140(C).
    2. Jess MacArthur & Rachel P Chase & Diana Gonzalez & Tyler Kozole & Chris Nicoletti & Veasna Toeur & Juliet Willetts & SNV Beyond the Finish Line Team, 2024. "Investigating impacts of gender-transformative interventions in water, sanitation, and hygiene: Structural validity, internal reliability and measurement invariance of the water, sanitation, and hygie," PLOS Water, Public Library of Science, vol. 3(10), pages 1-24, October.
    3. Pratley, Pierre, 2016. "Associations between quantitative measures of women's empowerment and access to care and health status for mothers and their children: A systematic review of evidence from the developing world," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 169(C), pages 119-131.
    4. Katsushi S. Imai & Samuel Kobina Annim & Raghav Gaiha & Veena S. Kulkarni, 2012. "Does Women's Empowerment Reduce Prevalence of Stunted and Underweight Children in Rural India?," Discussion Paper Series DP2012-11, Research Institute for Economics & Business Administration, Kobe University, revised Dec 2012.
    5. Klasen, Stephan, 2020. "From ‘MeToo’ to Boko Haram: A survey of levels and trends of gender inequality in the world," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 128(C).
    6. Yasmin, Nazia & Grundmann, Philipp, 2020. "Home-cooked energy transitions: Women empowerment and biogas-based cooking technology in Pakistan," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    7. Imai, Katsushi S. & Annim, Samuel Kobina & Kulkarni, Veena S. & Gaiha, Raghav, 2014. "Women’s Empowerment and Prevalence of Stunted and Underweight Children in Rural India," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 88-105.
    8. Koyel Sarkar, 2022. "Can status exchanges explain educational hypogamy in India?," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 46(28), pages 809-848.
    9. Van Rijsbergen, Bart & D’Exelle, Ben, 2013. "Delivery Care in Tanzania: A Comparative Analysis of Use and Preferences," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 276-287.
    10. Nadia Diamond-Smith & Lakshmi Gopalakrishnan & Sumeet Patil & Lia Fernald & Purnima Menon & Dilys Walker & Alison M El Ayadi, 2024. "Temporary childbirth migration and maternal health care in India," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 19(2), pages 1-29, February.
    11. Lee-Rife, Susan M., 2010. "Women's empowerment and reproductive experiences over the lifecourse," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(3), pages 634-642, August.
    12. Thiagu Ranganathan & Avina Mendonca, 2023. "Does being Educated more than the Spouse give Women Higher Autonomy? Findings from India," The Indian Journal of Labour Economics, Springer;The Indian Society of Labour Economics (ISLE), vol. 66(3), pages 833-853, September.
    13. Mal, Piyasa & Saikia, Nandita, 2024. "Disparity by caste and tribe: Understanding women's empowerment and health outcomes in India," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 354(C).
    14. Bilkish Banu & Sadika Haque, 2023. "Measuring Dimensions of Women Empowerment in North-West Region of Bangladesh: A Case Study," International Journal of Science and Business, IJSAB International, vol. 23(1), pages 141-156.
    15. Bussolo, Maurizio & Ezebuihe, Jessy Amarachi & Munoz Boudet, Ana Maria & Poupakis, Stavros & Rahman, Tasmia & Sarma, Nayantara, 2022. "Social Norms and Gender Equality : A Descriptive Analysis for South Asia," Policy Research Working Paper Series 10142, The World Bank.
    16. Gram, Lu & Skordis-Worrall, Jolene & Mannell, Jenevieve & Manandhar, Dharma S. & Saville, Naomi & Morrison, Joanna, 2018. "Revisiting the patriarchal bargain: The intergenerational power dynamics of household money management in rural Nepal," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 193-204.
    17. Arohi Anand & Animesh Karn & Avirup Mukherjee & Naboshree Bhattacharya, 2025. "Does earning money empower women? Evidence from India," Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, December.
    18. Sonalde Desai & Lijuan Wu, 2010. "Structured Inequalities—Factors Associated with Spatial Disparities in Maternity Care in India," Margin: The Journal of Applied Economic Research, National Council of Applied Economic Research, vol. 4(3), pages 293-319, August.
    19. Maryam Vizheh & Frances Rapport & Jeffrey Braithwaite & Yvonne Zurynski, 2023. "The Impact of Women’s Agency on Accessing and Using Maternal Healthcare Services: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(5), pages 1-17, February.
    20. Kathryn M. Yount & Kristin E. VanderEnde & Sylvie Dodell & Yuk Fai Cheong, 2016. "Measurement of Women’s Agency in Egypt: A National Validation Study," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 128(3), pages 1171-1192, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:kap:poprpr:v:44:y:2025:i:2:d:10.1007_s11113-025-09947-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.