Group life-skills and health empowerment for young married women in India to avoid unintended pregnancy

The impact of group-based life skills and health empowerment for young, married, women to avoid unintended pregnancies in India.

NIH-funded research University of California, San Francisco · NIH-11180301

Group life-skills and reproductive health empowerment classes aim to help young, newly married women in India avoid unintended pregnancies.

Quick facts

Grant typeR01 grant
Study typeNIH-funded research
Funding institutionUniversity of California, San Francisco NIH-funded
Lab location1 site (San Francisco, United States)
Project IDNIH-11180301 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

You would join group sessions called DAMINI that combine life-skills training with reproductive health information and empowerment activities. Villages are randomized so some women receive DAMINI while others receive the usual health education and contraceptive access from community health workers. The project focuses on recently married women aged 18–25 who do not want a pregnancy at the time of enrollment and tracks pregnancies, contraceptive use, and measures of empowerment. The study is taking place in communities in Uttar Pradesh, India and follows participants over time to compare outcomes between the two approaches.

Who could benefit from this research

Good fit: Ideal candidates are recently married women aged 18–25 living in participating villages in Uttar Pradesh who do not want to become pregnant right now.

Not a fit: Women trying to conceive, those outside the age or marital status criteria, or those living outside the participating communities would not be expected to benefit from this specific program.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the program could lower unintended pregnancies and improve young women's reproductive knowledge and decision-making power.

How similar studies have performed: Some prior empowerment and health-education programs have shown promise for increasing contraceptive use, but rigorous randomized trials specifically for young, newly married women in India are limited.

Where this research is happening

San Francisco, United States

Researchers

About this research

  1. This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
  2. Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
  3. For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page below.
Last reviewed 2026-06-10 by the Find a Trial editorial team. Information on this page is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Always consult qualified healthcare professionals about clinical trial participation.