Effect of Prenatal Care Frequency, Timing, and Quality on Child Birth Weight in Tajikistan

Abstract

We focus on identifying the effects of prenatal care on child birth weight in Tajikistan. We evaluate the effects of frequency, timing, and the quality of received care by estimating instrumental variable models. The results of two-stage least square (2SLS) indicate that an additional prenatal visit improves birth weight by 89 g, which constitutes approximately 2.7 percent of the original raw mean. Similarly, a one-unit increase in the quality of prenatal care improves birth weight by 130 g, which represents about 9.2 percent of the original mean. Likewise, having the first prenatal visit take place during the first trimester improves birth weight by 304 g, which is about 3.9 percent of the original mean. Although prenatal care in Tajikistan suffers from various inefficiencies, it nevertheless remains an instrumental factor in improving birth outcomes in the country. Finally, issues of endogeneity that result from self-selection and the importance of adjusting for child selection for being weighed are highlighted.