Saturday, December 6, 2025 12/6/2025

Temporary childbirth migration: understanding the magnitude and implications for maternal and infant health

Award Number: R01HD107197
ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
OPDIV: NIH
AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY
AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/15/2022
PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

Group Awards By:

View Award Description

Temporary childbirth migration: understanding the magnitude and implications for maternal and infant health - PROJECT SUMMARY Women in South Asia often return to their natal homes in different communities during pregnancy, for childbirth, and postpartum. Our team conducted the first robust measurement of this phenomenon in two states of India (coining the term “temporary childbirth migration (TCM)”) and found that about one-third of women returned to the natal home point during the perinatal period. Given India’s reliance on community-based maternal and child health care delivery, TCM may disrupt care continuity, negatively impacting health care access and health outcomes. Conversely, given the lower status of women in their marital homes, TCM could potentially improve health outcomes for migrants, leaving those “left behind” at higher health risk. A greater understanding of TCM, its impact, and associated mechanisms are critical inputs to inform policy and practice to improve maternal and neonatal health in India. However, despite anecdotal evidence of TCM’s widespread prevalence across diverse Indian contexts and its potential impact on health, it is not well defined or quantified in the literature. The objective of this study is to characterize TCM in India, describe its impact on perinatal outcomes, and explore the health care continuity and social support as potential mediators of these relationships. First, we will collect cross- sectional data from roughly 6000 women at eight Health and Demographic Surveillance Sites throughout India to define and characterize temporary childbirth migration, including magnitude, timing, drivers, and sociodemographic and geographic heterogeneity. Triadic qualitative interviews with household members in 2 sites will shed additional light on selection and drivers of TCM. Then, we will select three sites based on geographical distribution and differing levels of TCM for a longitudinal study. We will recruit 1000 women in each site (3000 total) who are early in pregnancy and follow them until one year postpartum, some of whom will migrate and some not. We will collect monthly telephone surveys and five longer in-depth surveys from women about migration patterns, health care use, maternal and child health outcomes, social support, and socio- demographics. We will ask women to take photographs on their mobile phones (provided to those without phones) of health record data to have higher quality maternal and infant outcome data. We will estimate the impact of TCM on preterm birth and identify women most at risk. We will then examine disruptions in the continuum of perinatal care and social support as potential mediators between temporary childbirth migration and health. These findings will help us understand factors that may be contributing to poor maternal and child health outcomes in India, and potentially other parts of South Asia and other regions. A better understanding of the impact of TCM can help programs and policies better support women to obtain the care and support they need in pregnancy and postpartum.


Issue Date FY	Funding FY	Legal Entity Name	Legal Entity Address	Legal Entity City	Legal Entity State	Legal Entity Zip Code	Legal Entity COUNTY	Legal Entity COUNTRY	Assistance Listing	Award Code	Budget Year	Action Date	Action Type	Action Amount

Issue Date FY: 2025 ( Subtotal = $656,515 )
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	006	4	9/9/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$68,594
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	003	4	9/9/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$104,891
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	002	4	9/5/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	-$189,817
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	004	4	9/9/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$150,568
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	005	4	9/9/2025	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$75,546
2025	2025	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	4	9/3/2025	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$656,515
2025	2024	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	3	11/5/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $656,515

Issue Date FY: 2024 ( Subtotal = $650,429 )
2024	2024	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	3	8/6/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$610,336
2024	2024	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	002	3	9/11/2024	SUPPLEMENT FOR EXPANSION	$40,093
2024	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94103	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	2	7/17/2024	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$0
														Subtotal = $650,429

Issue Date FY: 2023 ( Subtotal = $589,353 )
2023	2023	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	001	2	7/7/2023	NON-COMPETING CONTINUATION	$589,353
2023	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	1/27/2023	NEW	$0
														Subtotal = $589,353

Issue Date FY: 2022 ( Subtotal = $634,388 )
2022	2022	REGENTS OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO, THE	1855 FOLSOM ST STE 425	SAN FRANCISCO	CA	94143	SAN FRANCISCO	USA	Child Health and Human Development Extramural Research	000	1	9/13/2022	NEW	$634,388
														Subtotal = $634,388

Grand Total All Awards = $2,530,685

Top

All Categories

About

Search

Reports

Data Submission

Award Information

Temporary childbirth migration: understanding the magnitude and implications for maternal and infant health

Award Number: R01HD107197

ORGANIZATION: NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF CHILD HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT

OPDIV: NIH

AWARD CLASS: DISCRETIONARY

AWARD ACTIVITY TYPE: SCIENTIFIC/HEALTH RESEARCH (INCLUDES SURVEYS)

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE START DATE: 09/15/2022

PERIOD OF PERFORMANCE END DATE: 07/31/2027

Federal Websites

Department of Health & Human Services

HHS Operating Divisions

HHS Staff Divisions

Download A Document Viewer