Maternal and newborn health care. Baseline findings from Uttar Pradesh, India. 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 November 2012 in the state of Uttar Pradesh, India.

The 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 estimate the coverage of life saving interventions that frontline workers are able to deliver to mothers and newborns.

In the context of Uttar Pradesh, frontline workers include Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHA) and Anganwadi workers working in communities, and Auxiliary Nurse Midwives (ANM), nurses and doctors working in primary or community health centres, or sub-posts.

The findings represent a descriptive analysis of interactions and intervention coverage along the continuum of care. At least two years after baseline, an endline survey will be carried out to investigate the extent to which projects working in Uttar Pradesh 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.