Maternal and newborn health care. Baseline findings from Gombe State, Nigeria. Interactions between families and frontline workers (their frequency, quality, and equity), and coverage of interventions for mothers and newborns

The IDEAS baseline study of interactions between families and frontline workers and coverage of critical interventions for mothers and newborns was conducted in June 2012 in Gombe State, North-Eastern Nigeria.

Its aim was to gather information about the frequency, quality, and equity of interactions that women have with frontline workers during pregnancy, delivery and in the first 28 days after birth, and to measure the coverage of life saving interventions that frontline workers are able to deliver to mothers and newborns. In the context of Gombe State, frontline workers include community volunteers, traditional birth attendants, and health staff at primary level health facilities.

In addition to a descriptive analysis of interactions and intervention coverage, our purpose was to investigate whether more frequent or better quality interactions between families and frontline workers were associated with higher levels of intervention coverage.

At least two years after baseline, an endline survey will also be carried out to investigate the extent to which projects working in Gombe State that aim to enhance family and frontline worker interactions (by making them more frequent, better quality and more equitable) result in measurable increases in intervention coverage.