Nadia Diamond-Smith
Biographic Data
| ID | 378842 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nadia Diamond-Smith |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nadia |
| FAMILY NAME | Diamond-Smith |
| SIGNATURE | DIAMOND-SMITH N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of California, San Francisco |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8711-3029 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 45 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 30 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 45 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The role of social support in the decision to migrate for childbirth
Temporary Childbirth Migration (TCM), where women return to their natal homes during or after pregnancy, is a common but understudied practice in India and South Asia. This study examines the influence of social support systems on TCM decisions among Indian women, focusing on the roles of husbands, in-laws, and parents. The study was conducted in the Vadu Health and Demographic Surveillance System (HDSS) in Western Maharashtra, India, and involve…
Culturally and linguistically appropriate vaccine education (CLAVE) for Indigenous communities
Background In Guatemala, childhood vaccination rates, particularly in Indigenous communities, are low due to inaccessible information and mistrust. Using a human-centered design (HCD) process with community partners, we developed CLAVE (Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate Vaccine Education), a video series on routine and human papillomavirus (HPV) immunization in Kaqchikel, K’iche’, and Spanish. Content was distributed via social media and …
Using WhatsApp for vaccine promotion in low- and middle-income countries
BOX The combination of WhatsApp’s widespread use in low- and middle-income countries and array of low-cost messaging and data features suggests that the platform has great potential for health communication applications, including for vaccine promotion
Implementation and evaluation of a family planning intervention engaging mothers-in-law of young women in India
BACKGROUND: Despite evidence that mothers-in-law (MILs) influence daughters-in-law's (DILs) fertility and family planning decisions in South Asia, emphasizing early fertility and male grandchildren, few reproductive health interventions engage MILs directly. OBJECTIVES: We assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and qualitative impact of a reproductive health and life skill-based intervention on MILs in tribal Rajasthan, India, using a mixed-met…
Psychometric Validation of Trust, Commitment, and Satisfaction Scales to Measure Marital Relationship Quality Among Newly Married Women in Nepal
Marital relationship quality significantly influences health outcomes, but validated measurement tools for South Asian populations remain limited. To validate scales measuring trust, commitment, and satisfaction as key components of marital relationship quality among newly married women in Nepal, we conducted a two-wave psychometric validation study in rural Nawalparasi district. The study included 200 newly married women aged 18-25 years, with 1…
Defining and Characterizing Temporary Childbirth Migration in India
Women returning to their natal homes for pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum is common and understudied in South Asia, with important implications for maternal and newborn health policies, as well as data quality and interpretation. Using data from 1252 women residing in a Health and Demographic Surveillance Site in Maharashtra, India we explore timing, duration and associated socio-economic factors with Temporary Childbirth Migration (TCM). Our …
Temporary childbirth migration and perinatal healthcare in rural Maharashtra, India
Association between coordinated counseling from both Asha and Anganwadi Workers and maternal health outcomes
Community Health Workers (CHWs) play crucial roles in health promotion and services in rural India. Previous research investigating the effectiveness of coordinated health promotion by different community health workers (CHWs) cadres on health practices is scarce. This study examines the effectiveness of coordinated health promotion by different CHW cadres, specifically Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi Workers (AWW), on mat…
Predictors and experiences of seeking abortion services from pharmacies in Nepal
Abortion was legalized in Nepal in 2002; however, despite evidence of safety and quality provision of medical abortion (MA) pills by pharmacies in Nepal and elsewhere, it is still not legal for pharmacists to provide medication abortion in Nepal. However, pharmacies often do provide MA, but little is known about who seeks abortions from pharmacies and their experiences and outcomes. The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences of wo…
A longitudinal study of the role of spousal relationship quality and mother-in-law relationship quality on women’s depression in rural Nepal
Nepal has high prevalence of early marriage and remains a patrilocal society with women moving into their husbands' home after marriage. Spousal relationship quality can be an important predictor of health and mental well-being of married women in a patriarchal setting like Nepal but is understudied in this population. We examined the association between spousal relationship quality, mother-in-law relationship quality and mental health among newl…
The relationship between the gendered norm of eating last and mental health of newly married women in Nepal
Eating last is a gendered cultural norm in which the youngest daughters-in-law are expected to eat last after serving others in the household, including men and in-laws. Using women's eating last as an indicator of women's status, we studied the association between eating last and women's mental health. Using four rounds of prospective cohort data of 18-25-year-old newly married women (n = 200) cohabiting with mothers-in-law between 2018 and 2020…
The Covid-19 Pandemic in the Nawalparasi District of Nepal
In the Nawalparasi district of Nepal, the pandemic has led to unstable economic situations that have instigated alcohol use among men, and increased rates of IPV among young, newly married women, and reports of VAW in the community. We have demonstrated a need for urgent programmatic and policy responses aimed at reducing VAW and IPV and protecting women during times of uncertainty and crisis
Adapting and Validating the G‐Norm (Gender Norms Scale) in Nepal
Research calls for the sexual and reproductive rights field to prioritize gender norms to ensure that women can act on their reproductive rights. However, there is a gap in accepted measures. We addressed this by including important theoretical components of gender norms: differentiating between descriptive and injunctive norms and adding a referent group. Our team originally developed and validated the G‐NORM, a gender norms scale, in India. In …
Can digitally enabling community health and nutrition workers improve services delivery to pregnant women and mothers of infants? Quasi-experimental evidence from a national-scale nutrition programme …
BACKGROUND: India's 1.4 million community health and nutrition workers (CHNWs) serve 158 million beneficiaries under the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) programme. We assessed the impact of a data capture, decision support, and job-aid mobile app for the CHNWs on two primary outcomes-(1) timeliness of home visits and (2) appropriate counselling specific to the needs of pregnant women and mothers of children <12 months. METHODS: We us…
The supply is there. So why can’t pregnant and breastfeeding women in rural India get the Covid-19 vaccine
Despite COVID-19 vaccines being available to pregnant women in India since summer 2021, little is known about vaccine uptake among this high need population. We conducted mixed methods research with pregnant and recently delivered rural women in northern India, consisting of 300 phone surveys and 15 in-depth interviews, in November 2021. Only about a third of respondents were vaccinated, however, about half of unvaccinated respondents reported th…
Strategies to reduce stigma and discrimination in sexual and reproductive healthcare settings
Stigma and discrimination are fundamental causes of health inequities, and reflect privilege, power, and disadvantage within society. Experiences and impacts of stigma and discrimination are well-documented, but a critical gap remains on effective strategies to reduce stigma and discrimination in sexual and reproductive healthcare settings. We aimed to address this gap by conducting a mixed-methods systematic review and narrative synthesis to des…
Unequal impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic on women's fertility preferences
The COVID-19 pandemic suppressed fertility desires among US women.•Impacts on fertility preferences persisted from summer 2020 to early 2021.•The fertility preferences of younger women, women of color and those facing financial stress were most impacted
Do changes in women's household status in Nepal improve access to food and nutrition
Women's nutritional status remains poor in South Asia, impacting maternal and infant health outcomes. Women's household status is also low, as evidenced by eating behaviours. We started with triadic qualitative interviews with newly married women, husbands and mothers-in-law to explore the link between women's status and eating patterns, followed by longitudinal data from a cohort of 200 newly married women in rural Nepal to measure associations …
The development and feasibility of a group-based household-level intervention to improve preconception nutrition in Nawalparasi district of Nepal
ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04383847 , registered 05/12/2020
Drought and migration
The list experiment
Vietnam reports one of the highest levels of abortion globally and an increasingly skewed sex ratio at birth. Abortion and related stigmatized behaviours are notoriously difficult to measure, yet understanding women's ability and willingness to engage in sex selection is of interest to demographers and policymakers alike. We piloted the list experiment, an indirect questioning method, to estimate the prevalence of prenatal sex determination and s…
What has contributed to improvements in the child sex ratio in select districts of India? A decomposition of the sex ratio at birth and child mortality
Despite an overall downward trend in child sex ratios in India, some of the most imbalanced districts in 2001 (fewer girls than boys) showed signs of becoming more balanced in 2011. This analysis looked in depth at these districts to better understand the nature of the improvement in the child sex ratio using two rounds of data from the Census of India from 2001 and 2011. Data were used from the 153 districts that showed improvement in their chil…
Feasibility and acceptability of mobile phone data collection for longitudinal follow-up among patients treated for obstetric fistula in Uganda
Rapid dissemination of mobile technology provides substantial opportunity for overcoming challenges reaching rural and marginalized populations. We assessed feasibility and acceptability of longitudinal mobile data capture among women undergoing fistula surgery in Uganda ( n = 60) in 2014-2015. Participants were followed for 12 months following surgery, with data captured quarterly, followed by interviews at 12 months. Participant retention was h…
Semi-arranged marriages and dowry ambivalence
Marriage is a point of change in young people's lives, especially in parts of the world that place high value on it, such as in South Asian countries including Nepal. However, marriage practices are changing, with a move towards more love marriage; this is likely to have important implications on women's status and agency, household and couple dynamics, and mental and physical health. The aim of this paper is to describe how changing marriage for…
Food insecurity and low access to high-quality food for preconception women in Nepal
Objective: Women in South Asia, including Nepal, have some of the poorest nutritional indicators globally, leading to poor maternal and child health outcomes. Nepal also suffers from high levels of household food insecurity, and newly married women are at high risk. Intra-household relationships may mediate the relationship between food insecurity and women’s nutrition in Nepal for newly married women. Our aim is to understand how newly married, …
Development of a Person‐Centered Family Planning Scale in India and Kenya
Despite recognition that person‐centered care is a critical component to providing high quality family planning services, there lacks consensus on how to operationalize and measure it. This paper describes the development and validation of a person‐centered family planning (PCFP) scale in India and Kenya. Cross‐sectional data were collected from 522 women in Kenya and 225 women in India who visited a health facility providing family planning serv…
The List Experiment for Measuring Abortion
Measuring abortion incidence and prevalence is often difficult because of under‐reporting and other biases, complicated research designs, and other issues. Recently, family planning researchers have introduced a new method called the list experiment, adopted from political science and economics, to measure abortion. Three completed studies and at least four studies currently underway use this method to measure abortion in several countries. We di…
Barriers to exclusive breastfeeding in the Ayeyarwaddy Region in Myanmar
BACKGROUND: Myanmar has low rates of exclusive breastfeeding despite many decades of efforts to increase this practice. The purpose of this study is to examine the barriers to exclusive breastfeeding and how different household members participate in decision-making. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with mothers with an infant 6-12 months (24), and a subset of their husbands (10) and their mothers/mothers-in-laws (grandmothers) (1…
Gender disparities in child health care seeking in northern Vietnam
Vietnam recently demonstrated a skewed sex ratio at birth. Little research has examined postnatal impacts of son preference in Vietnam, such as in child health care seeking. Past research in other Asian countries with son preference has found that parents are more likely to take sons to a health facility when they are sick, to do so more promptly, and invest more resources in care, than daughters. Using data from a paediatric hospital emergency d…
Where women go to deliver
Growing evidence from a number of countries in Asia and Africa documents a large shift towards facility deliveries in the past decade. These increases have not led to the improvements in health outcomes that were predicted by health policy researchers in the past. In light of this unexpected evidence, we have assessed data from multiple sources, including nationally representative data from 43 countries in Asia and Africa, to understand the size …
Adapting and Validating the G‐Norm (Gender Norms Scale) in Nepal
Research calls for the sexual and reproductive rights field to prioritize gender norms to ensure that women can act on their reproductive rights. However, there is a gap in accepted measures. We addressed this by including important theoretical components of gender norms: differentiating between descriptive and injunctive norms and adding a referent group. Our team originally developed and validated the G‐NORM, a gender norms scale, in India. In …
Drought and migration
Reducing Unintended Pregnancies
Although the rate of contraceptive use in France is high, more than one‐third of pregnancies are unintended. We built a dynamic microsimulation model that applies data from the French COCON study on method switching, discontinuation, and failure rates to a hypothetical population of 20,000 women, followed for five years. We use the model to estimate the adjustment factor needed to make the survey data fit the demographic profile of France by adju…
Too many girls, too much dowry’
The southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu has experienced a dramatic decline in fertility, accompanied by a trend of increased son preference. This paper reports on findings from qualitative interviews with women in rural villages about their fertility decision-making. Specifically addressed are the reasons behind increasing son preference and the consequences of this change. Findings suggest that daughter aversion, fuelled primarily by the perceiv…
Are the population policies of India and China responsible for the fertility decline
In the 1970s, policy‐makers in both India and China, convinced that reducing population growth was critical for ending poverty, instituted coercive population policies. Yet fertility had already been declining in both countries before the population policies were instituted. In China, the total fertility rate (TFR) had already fallen to 2.9 before the institution of the One‐Child Policy. In India, fertility continued to decline at roughly the sam…
A Woman Cannot Die from a Pregnancy She Does Not Have
More than 99% of maternal deaths occur in low-resource settings; in parts of the developing world, as many as one in six women die of maternal causes. Currently, seven developing countries-Afghanistan, Angola, Malawi, Niger, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania-have maternal mortality ratios of at least 1,400 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births
Climate change and population in the Muslim world
Many regions of the globe especially vulnerable to climate change are home to the world’s largest Muslim populations. Projections of climatic risk and subsequent health consequences and mortality are exacerbated by growing populations. Close examination of both the current and future trends is essential for a better understanding of how severely climate change might affect such populations. While it is generally perceived that many Muslim countri…
Misinformation and fear of side-effects of family planning
Fears about the side-effects from family planning are well-documented barriers to use. Many fears are misinformation, while others reflect real experience, and understanding of these is not complete. Using qualitative interviews with women in three countries, this study examines what women feared, how they acquired this knowledge, and how it impacted on decision-making. We aimed to understand whether women would be more likely to use family plann…
Reducing Unintended Pregnancies
Although the rate of contraceptive use in France is high, more than one‐third of pregnancies are unintended. We built a dynamic microsimulation model that applies data from the French COCON study on method switching, discontinuation, and failure rates to a hypothetical population of 20,000 women, followed for five years. We use the model to estimate the adjustment factor needed to make the survey data fit the demographic profile of France by adju…
Inter-generational co-residence and women's work and leisure time in Egypt
Labor force participation among women in Egypt remains low, and due to falling fertility and increases life expectancy, women in Egypt in the future may spend more time co-residing with aging in-laws. Past literature has suggested that co-residence in some
Cross-border ties and the reproductive health of India's internal migrant women
The literature on how social ties influence sexual and reproductive health is well established; however, one significant limitation of this research is the influence of social ties to hometowns among migrant women. Drawing from cross-border social ties literature, the objective of this study is to assess how cross-border social ties influence use of family planning and institutional deliveries among internal migrant women in India. Cross-sectiona…
Influence of internal migration on reproductive health in Myanmar
This study found that female migrants in Myanmar reported better health outcomes compared to non-migrant women in regards to family planning and maternal health. Future research should focus on monitoring the outcomes of migrants and their children over time to assess long-term impacts
Assessing Rates of Inadequate Feeding Practices Among Children 12–24 months
Delivery and postpartum practices among new mothers in Laputta, Myanmar
Myanmar is witnessing increased access to modern maternity care, along with shifting norms and practices. Past research has documented low rates of facility-based deliveries in the country, along with adverse maternal and child health outcomes. Research has also documented diverse traditional practices in the postpartum period, related to maternity care and maternal food intake. Through 34 qualitative interviews with women who recently gave birth…
Gender disparities in child health care seeking in northern Vietnam
Vietnam recently demonstrated a skewed sex ratio at birth. Little research has examined postnatal impacts of son preference in Vietnam, such as in child health care seeking. Past research in other Asian countries with son preference has found that parents are more likely to take sons to a health facility when they are sick, to do so more promptly, and invest more resources in care, than daughters. Using data from a paediatric hospital emergency d…
Barriers to exclusive breastfeeding in the Ayeyarwaddy Region in Myanmar
BACKGROUND: Myanmar has low rates of exclusive breastfeeding despite many decades of efforts to increase this practice. The purpose of this study is to examine the barriers to exclusive breastfeeding and how different household members participate in decision-making. METHODS: We conducted semi-structured interviews with mothers with an infant 6-12 months (24), and a subset of their husbands (10) and their mothers/mothers-in-laws (grandmothers) (1…
Where women go to deliver
Growing evidence from a number of countries in Asia and Africa documents a large shift towards facility deliveries in the past decade. These increases have not led to the improvements in health outcomes that were predicted by health policy researchers in the past. In light of this unexpected evidence, we have assessed data from multiple sources, including nationally representative data from 43 countries in Asia and Africa, to understand the size …
The List Experiment for Measuring Abortion
Measuring abortion incidence and prevalence is often difficult because of under‐reporting and other biases, complicated research designs, and other issues. Recently, family planning researchers have introduced a new method called the list experiment, adopted from political science and economics, to measure abortion. Three completed studies and at least four studies currently underway use this method to measure abortion in several countries. We di…
The influence of a community-level breast-feeding promotion intervention programme on breast-feeding practices in Myanmar
Objective Breast-feeding in the first 6 months of life is critical for ensuring both child health and well-being. Despite efforts to improve breast-feeding practices, recent studies have reported that Myanmar continues to have low rates of exclusive breast-feeding. Design/Setting/Subjects A community-based breast-feeding promotion programme using trained community members was implemented for 1 year in hard-to-reach townships of Myanmar. The prese…
Development of a Person‐Centered Family Planning Scale in India and Kenya
Despite recognition that person‐centered care is a critical component to providing high quality family planning services, there lacks consensus on how to operationalize and measure it. This paper describes the development and validation of a person‐centered family planning (PCFP) scale in India and Kenya. Cross‐sectional data were collected from 522 women in Kenya and 225 women in India who visited a health facility providing family planning serv…
Stigma and agency
Although abortion is now legal in Kenya under expanded circumstances, access is limited and many providers and individuals still believe it is illegal. This study aimed to characterise Kenyan women's perceptions and experiences with abortion and post-abortion care (PAC) services in Nairobi regarding barriers to care, beliefs about abortion, and perceived stigma. We conducted 15 semi-structured in-depth interviews with Kenyan women aged 18-24 year…
Food insecurity and intimate partner violence among married women in Nepal
BACKGROUND: Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is an important public health concern globally, including in Nepal. Food insecurity (being without reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food) has been associated with IPV, but no known studies have explored this relationship in South Asia, or Nepal specifically. Women's level of empowerment is an important factor to consider when understanding the relationship between food …
What has contributed to improvements in the child sex ratio in select districts of India? A decomposition of the sex ratio at birth and child mortality
Despite an overall downward trend in child sex ratios in India, some of the most imbalanced districts in 2001 (fewer girls than boys) showed signs of becoming more balanced in 2011. This analysis looked in depth at these districts to better understand the nature of the improvement in the child sex ratio using two rounds of data from the Census of India from 2001 and 2011. Data were used from the 153 districts that showed improvement in their chil…
Feasibility and acceptability of mobile phone data collection for longitudinal follow-up among patients treated for obstetric fistula in Uganda
Rapid dissemination of mobile technology provides substantial opportunity for overcoming challenges reaching rural and marginalized populations. We assessed feasibility and acceptability of longitudinal mobile data capture among women undergoing fistula surgery in Uganda ( n = 60) in 2014-2015. Participants were followed for 12 months following surgery, with data captured quarterly, followed by interviews at 12 months. Participant retention was h…
Semi-arranged marriages and dowry ambivalence
Marriage is a point of change in young people's lives, especially in parts of the world that place high value on it, such as in South Asian countries including Nepal. However, marriage practices are changing, with a move towards more love marriage; this is likely to have important implications on women's status and agency, household and couple dynamics, and mental and physical health. The aim of this paper is to describe how changing marriage for…
Food insecurity and low access to high-quality food for preconception women in Nepal
Objective: Women in South Asia, including Nepal, have some of the poorest nutritional indicators globally, leading to poor maternal and child health outcomes. Nepal also suffers from high levels of household food insecurity, and newly married women are at high risk. Intra-household relationships may mediate the relationship between food insecurity and women’s nutrition in Nepal for newly married women. Our aim is to understand how newly married, …
Preparing for an Increased Need for Abortion Access in India during and after Covid‐19
Access to safe abortion is a reproductive rights and justice issue, and it is imperative that safe abortion access during and after the COVID‐19 pandemic is a reality for all. India imposed a lockdown in March 2020 to contain the spread of the pandemic. Limited mobility, lack of clarity about abortion as an essential service and abortion as a service permitted through telemedicine, shut down of services providing long‐acting and permanent methods…
The list experiment
Vietnam reports one of the highest levels of abortion globally and an increasingly skewed sex ratio at birth. Abortion and related stigmatized behaviours are notoriously difficult to measure, yet understanding women's ability and willingness to engage in sex selection is of interest to demographers and policymakers alike. We piloted the list experiment, an indirect questioning method, to estimate the prevalence of prenatal sex determination and s…
Medicine (35 works) · Global Maternal and Child Health (31 works) · Population (26 works) · Environmental health (23 works) · Demography (20 works) · Sociology (20 works) · Psychology (18 works) · Nursing (16 works) · Pregnancy (16 works) · Political science (14 works)