PROJECT
First-time Parents Project

Sexual activity among adolescent females in India takes place overwhelmingly within the context of marriage. While age at marriage for girls is increasing in India, as elsewhere in the developing world, early marriage continues to be a significant practice. Nationwide, nearly a fifth of 20–24-year-old girls are married by age 15; close to half are married by age 18 (IIPS and ORC Macro 2007). As many as 30 percent of adolescent girls aged 15–19 are already married, presumably sexually active, and under pressure to bear a first child, while fewer than 10 percent of unmarried girls are reported to be sexually experienced (IIPS and ORC Macro 2007; Jejeebhoy and Sebastian 2004).

Despite the high prevalence of early marriage in India, little is known about the lives of married girls, about the nature of the early years of marriage, and the pressures on young women, and little has been done to support them. Although sexual activity occurs within the socially sanctioned institution of marriage, marriage does not inherently make the sex safe, voluntary, or pleasurable. Nor does the fact that the birth is often desired, expected by the community, or within the marital boundary make childbearing safe for a young first-time mother. In view of this, the Population Council, in partnership with Deepak Charitable Trust in Vadodara and the Child In Need Institute in Kolkata initiated the First-time Parents Project. Findings from this effort fill a significant gap in existing research, providing insight about the situation and needs of recently married and first-time pregnant/postpartum adolescent girls and young women in India as well as insight on the feasibility and effects of the interventions.

This project developed and tested an integrated package of health and social interventions that aimed to improve young females’ reproductive and sexual health knowledge and practices, and increase their ability to act in their own interests. It was derived from the hypothesis that the periods following marriage and surrounding the first birth, though characterized by greater vulnerability, offer a unique and powerful entry point for improving the prospects of young mothers.

Project objectives were to:

• better understand the social moment and transition of new marriage and a first birth, including the critical role of partners/fathers and other family members in decisionmaking and supportive/detrimental behaviors; and

• develop and test interventions designed to increase social support to recently married young women and first-time mothers and provide services tailored to address their needs after marriage and during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period.

The intervention, implemented over a two-year period, 2003–2004, comprised three main components: information provision, adjustments in existing health services, and group formation. The interventions were directed to several groups, including newly married young women, young women pregnant for the first time, postpartum first-time mothers, husbands of these young women, mothers and mothers-in-law, and the broader community.

A quasi-experimental, case-control study with quantitative surveys at baseline and endline assessed the effects of the interventions. After controlling for other factors, the First-time Parents Project had significant, positive effects on girls’ autonomy, reproductive health knowledge and practice, and couple relations. The findings from this study are very encouraging—both in exerting significant effects on the lives of married girls and in demonstrating the feasibility of implementing a program for this vulnerable population of girls.

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Population Council researchers

K.G. Santhya (New Delhi), Nicole Haberland (New York)

Non-Council collaborators

Child In Need Institute, Kolkata

Deepak Charitable Trust, Vadodara

International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai

Donors

The Community Foundation for National Capital Region

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

The Summit Foundation

UK Department for International Development

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