Framing correlates of still births in India: a path analysis approach

Chandan Kumar, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Roorkee
Sulabha Parasuraman, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

Despite further improvement in maternal and child health care services, stalling of infant and child mortality rate over the period in most of the developing countries inclding India has paved the way for research in the area of child survival in perinatal or neonatal period. Since, stillbirths contribute a significant portion in the component of perinatal mortality, investigating the magnitude of plausible determinants would be desirable from the policy point of view. The present study has made an approach to review the trends of stillbirths in India with a view to explain the factors determining the state-wise differentials in the stillbirth rate. Data Used: SRS, and 3 rounds of NFHS etc; Methodology: Linear Regression and Path Analysis. Results: Household environmental standard seems to lay positive impact in regulating the occurrence of stillbirths in India. Women’s education and economic status didn’t seem to have strong influence in regulating stillbirths.