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

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-11402097

This project offers group life-skills and reproductive health sessions to help recently married women in India delay or avoid unintended pregnancy.

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-11402097 on NIH RePORTER

What this research studies

If you join, you would attend local group sessions called DAMINI that teach life skills, health empowerment, and reproductive health information and connect you with contraceptive options. Villages are randomly assigned to receive DAMINI or the usual health education and contraceptive access provided by community health workers. The research follows recently married women aged 18–25 who do not want a pregnancy now to see whether the program helps them avoid unintended pregnancy and improves empowerment and health outcomes. Sessions take place in villages in Uttar Pradesh and may include group meetings and follow-up visits.

Who could benefit from this research

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

Not a fit: Women who are already pregnant, actively trying to conceive, older than the enrolled age range, or living outside the participating villages are unlikely to benefit from or be eligible for this program.

Why it matters

Potential benefit: If successful, the program could help young married women avoid unintended pregnancies and increase their reproductive knowledge and household empowerment.

How similar studies have performed: Some empowerment and life-skills programs have shown promise for increasing contraceptive use, but rigorous randomized trials focused on young 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.