Temporary childbirth migration and maternal health care in India

Women in South Asia often return to their natal home during pregnancy, for childbirth, and stay through the postpartum period-potentially impacting access to health care and health outcomes in this important period. However, this phenomenon is understudied (and not even named) in the demographic or health literature, nor do we know how it impacts health.

The aim of this study is to measure the magnitude, timing, duration, risk factors and impact on care of this phenomenon, which we name Temporary Childbirth Migration.

Using data from 9,033 pregnant and postpartum women collected in 2019 in two large states of India (Madhya Pradesh and Bihar) we achieve these aims using descriptive statistics and logistic regression models, combined with qualitative data from community health workers about this practice.

We find that about one third of women return to their natal home at some point in pregnancy or postpartum, mostly clustered close to the time of delivery. Younger, primiparous, and non-Hindu women were more likely to return to their natal home. Women reported that they went to their natal home because they believed that they would receive better care; this was born out by our analysis in Bihar, but not Madhya Pradesh, for prenatal care.

Temporary childbirth migration is common, and, contrary to expectations, did not lead to disruptions in care, but rather led to more access to care.

We describe a hitherto un-named, underexplored yet common phenomenon that has implications for health care use and potentially health outcomes.