Improving Maternal and Newborn Health Practices and Reducing Inequality
Hazra et al. (2020)’s quasi experimental study in Uttar Pradesh, India assessed the effects of health behavior change interventions on maternal and newborn health (MNH) practices when delivered through women’s SHGs. The study found that providing the interventions through SHGs not only helped improve maternal and newborn practices, but also reduced disparities between most- and least marginalized populations for such behaviors. While the net improvements over time for all socio-economic groups was between 5-11 percentage points, most-marginalized SHG members found improvements in ANC check-ups of 20 percentage points, a 12-percentage point increase in use of contraception, a 29-percentage point increase in timely breastfeeding, and an increased consumption of iron folic acid tablets for 100 days by 7 percentage points.