Emerging challenges in reproductive health in Georgia (2014-2024)

The main aim of this thesis is to investigate recent and ongoing challenges in reproductive health in Georgia, with a focus on declining fertility and birth trends, their underlying factors—including adolescent motherhood and the impact of global crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic—and the contribution of adolescent pregnancies to adverse neonatal outcomes. Specifically:

Objective 1: To analyze temporal trends in fertility and birth rates in Georgia, conduct predictive modeling to forecast future demographic shifts, and discuss the potential factors driving the observed fertility patterns (Paper I).

Objective 2: To assess the impact of COVID-19-related restrictions on pregnancy and abortion rates in Georgia by comparing trends before and after the first lockdown, and to evaluate whether the pandemic influenced access to reproductive healthcare services or reproductive behavior (Paper II).

Objective 3: To investigate spatial distribution of adolescent births and study the associations between adolescent pregnancies and adverse neonatal outcomes, including PB, NICU admission, and PM, and to estimate the burden of these outcomes attributable to adolescent pregnancies in Georgia (Paper III).

This is the PhD project of Nia Khachidze.