Estimating childhood mortality trends from routine data: a simulation using the preceding birth technique in Bangladesh

The Preceding Birth Technique (PBT) can be used to estimate mortality among children aged under three in Bangladesh, but long intervals between births make it less effective for estimating mortality in children aged under two. However, this technique can still give valuable information about under-three mortality trends. Reliable ongoing measures of recent childhood mortality can be obtained from information about the survival of preceding children gained from pregnant mothers who attend antenatal clinics and from mothers with index children who attend vaccination centres.