Infant mortality in relation to internal migration in rural Bangladesh

Abstract

In Matlab thana, a rural area of Bangladesh, there is a substantial deficit of males of reproductive age owing to urban migration of males who leave their families behind. These men nevertheless return to visit their families frequently. 30% of the births in this area occur to families with migrant fathers: neonatal mortality rates in these families are nearly double those of families with non-migrant fathers. This high risk, in turn, interacts with educational attainment and maternal nutrition. Only those migrant families where mothers have no education or have low body weight experience high neonatal mortality rates. Psychological stress during pregnancy, probably caused by fear and anxiety related to the husband's absence may in part be responsible for such differential risk during the neonatal period. author's modified