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 search for a different version of it.

    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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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.