Women and Infertility in a Pronatalist Culture: Mental Health in the Slums of Mumbai

Figures & data

Table 1 Demographics and Health of Participants (N = 74)

Characteristics		Participants without Desire for Intervention (n = 50)	Participants Desiring Future Intervention (n = 24)
		n (%)	n (%)
Household position (n = 74)	Wife	30 (60.0)	13 (54.2)
	Daughter-n-law	19 (38.0)	11 (45.8)
	Daughter	1 (2.0)	0
Family style (n = 74)	Nuclear	20 (40.0)	11 (45.8)
	Joint	30 (60.0)	13 (54.2)
Religion (n = 74)	Hindu	33 (66.0)	14 (58.3)
	Muslim	12 (24.0))	6 (25.0)
	Buddhist	3 (6.0)	3 (12.5)
	Other	2 (4.0)	1 (4.2)
Highest level of education (n = 74)	None (illiterate)	13 (26.0)	5 (20.8)
	Primary	16 (32.0)	5 (20.8)
	Secondary	11 (22.0)	7 (29.2)
	Higher-secondary or graduate	10 (20.0)	7 (29.2)
Current occupation (n = 74)	Unskilled worker/Homemaker	39 (78.0)	15 (62.5)
	Semi-skilled worker to semi-professional	11 (22.0)	9 (37.5)
Monthly family income (n = 70)	≤ Rs. 2091–10,356	15 (31.9)	9 (39.1)
	Rs. 10,357–20,714	25 (53.2)	12 (52.2)
	Rs. 20,715–41,430+	7 (14.9)	2 (8.7)
Health problems (n = 74)**	None	38 (76.0)	8 (33.3)
	Anemia	5 (10.0)	10 (41.7)
	Other^a	7 (14.0)	6 (25.0)
Psychosocial problems (n = 71)*	None	31 (66.0)	8 (33.3)
	Anxiety	16 (34.0)	15 (62.5)
	Depression	0	1 (4.2)
Had infertility testing (n = 74)	No	9 (18.0)	2 (8.3)
	Yes	41 (82.0)	22 (91.7)
Husband had infertility testing (n = 74)	No	15 (30.0)	10 (41.7)
	Yes	35 (70.0)	14 (58.3)
		M (SD)	M (SD)
Age (n = 74)		26.72 (5.34)	26.63 (5.59)
Years married (n = 74)		7.92 (5.98)	7.13 (4.68)
Mother’s age at first pregnancy (n = 12)		23.17 (1.47)	22.50 (9.20)
If ever pregnant, number of pregnancies (n = 12)		1.17 (0.41)	1.17 (0.41)

Notes: *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01 per X² or t-test. Other^a = Thyroid disease, weakness, hypotension, Tuberculosis, kidney stones, headache, asthma, irregular menses, hysterectomy.

Table 2 Mean Scores on Variables of Interest and Independent Samples t-Test Comparisons

Scale	Possible Range	Mid-Range Score	Participants without Desire for Intervention (n = 50)	Participants Desiring Future Intervention (n = 24)
			M (SD)	M (SD)
Social Norms (n = 72)*	10–50	30	24.52 (7.34)	29.00 (5.64)
Social Support (n = 73)	12–48	30	39.10 (5.55)	38.54 (7.19)
Positive RCOPE (n = 74)	0–9	4.5	1.56 (2.75)	1.79 (2.75)
Negative RCOPE (n = 73)^+	0–9	4.5	5.44 (2.10)	5.61 (1.97)
Overall religiosity (n = 74)	0–3	1.5	2.36 (0.85)	2.45 (0.88)
Wishful thinking (n = 74)	0–21	10.5	12.70 (4.70)	13.37 (3.24)
Practical coping (n = 73)	0–21	10.5	14.67 (4.64)	15.33 (4.07)
Autonomy (n = 74)	1–12	6.5	7.08 (1.94)	8.20 (2.06)
Infertility Stigma Total (n = 73)	27–135	81	64.67 (26.78)	75.12 (21.28)
Self-devaluation subscale (n = 74)	7–35	21	18.56 (9.44)	20.25 (7.50)
Social Withdrawal subscale (n = 74)	5–25	15	14.76 (5.85)	15.62 (4.37)
Public Stigma subscale (n = 74)	9–45	27	21.82 (11.13)	25.67 (10.32)
Family Stigma subscale (n = 73)*	6–30	18	10.33 (5.40)	13.58 (5.99)
Mental health: HSCL (n = 73)**	1–4 (cut off 1.65)	1.5	1.78 (0.71)	2.43 (0.79)
Life satisfaction (n = 74)^+	5–35	20	22.70 (7.43)	19.20 (8.89)

Notes: ⁺p < 0.10, *p < 0.05, **p < 0.01.

Table 3 Summary of Regression Analysis for Variables Predicting Mental Health (N = 74)

Variables	B	SE B	β
Constant	0.47	0.64
Age	−0.17	0.02	−.11
Occupation	0.23	0.18	0.12
Health	0.38	0.12	0.34**
Psychosocial problems	0.02	0.18	0.01
Years married	0.06	0.02	0.35*
Social norms	0.01	0.01	0.03
Coping style – Wishful thinking	0.07	0.02`	0.32*
Coping style – Practical	−0.01	0.02	−.01
Self-devaluation	0.02	0.01	0.21
Social withdrawal	0.01	0.02	0.06
Public stigma	−0.01	0.02	−.03
Family stigma	−0.01	0.02	−.01
Life satisfaction	−0.01	0.01	−.14
R^2	0.65
F for change in R^2	7.41***

Notes: *p<0.05, **p<0.01, ***p<0.001.