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Highlighted by sensational titles such as "The endangered sex" (Miller, 1981) or "More than 100 million women are missing" (Sen, 1992), studies have long drawn attention to the unfavourable life chances of females versus males in various parts of East and South Asia.

Childbirth is a normal physiological process, which can become pathological due to the adoption of certain practices and consequently affect the health and survival of the newborn.