Water access and sanitation shape birth outcomes and earning potential

Monday, November 19, 2018

By Sahana Ghosh

Spending more time per day fetching water increased Indian women’s risk of delivering a low birth-weight baby, a study has said.

The study, by the University of Iowa College of Public Health and published online in October, highlights the relationship between adverse birth outcomes and sanitation access, domestic water-fetching, crime and gender-based harassment.

Among women without a household water source, two hours was the median time they trekked to collect water, the study reported. It suggests physical and psychosocial stress are possible mechanisms by which water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) access affects pre-term births (PTB) and low birth-weight (LBW) among Indian women.

Photo courtesy of Water.org.

Source: Yahoo India (link opens in a new window)

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WASH
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public health