Changes in maternal and newborn health care in Uttar Pradesh, India

'Interactions between families and frontline workers – their frequency, quality, and equity – and coverage of interventions for mothers and newborns'. This IDEAS study of the interactions between families and frontline workers and coverage of critical interventions for mothers and newborns was conducted between November 2012 and November 2015 in the State of Uttar Pradesh, India. It is one of three country-specific reports, along with Ethiopia and North Eastern Nigeria.

It follows from the 2013 Baseline findings from Uttar Pradesh, India. The aim was to estimate changes in maternal and newborn health care in areas where Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation implementation projects were operating, with three active projects in the region: Manthan; Better Birth; The Community Mobilisation Project.

The main body of this report focuses on change in indicators that were expected to improve as a result of the specific implementation activities in place in the study area.

This study was not designed to reflect progress of individual projects, but to understand changes arising as a result of investments made by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation strategy for maternal and newborn health.

Key Messages: (1) Some, but not all, indicators that had been targeted by projects were observed to have increased between the surveys (2) Coverage of at least one antenatal care visit with a skilled provider increased so that three quarters of women reported this in 2015. But there was no change in coverage of at least four antenatal care visits with only one quarter of women having the recommended four visits in 2015. (3) Postnatal care for the mother within two days of birth increased from half of women receiving a check, to two-thirds of women in 2015. This large change was driven by an increase in the number of postnatal checks for women who delivered at home. (4) Postnatal care for the newborn remained very low at just 15% in 2015 and Indicators of interaction quality showed no evidence of change (5) There was very little change in the coverage of life saving interventions for newborns (6) Over three-quarters of women with a recent birth had been visited at home by a frontline worker in 2015.

Citation Marchant, T; (2016). Change in maternal and newborn health care: Interactions between families and front line workers – their frequency, quality, and equity – and coverage of interventions for mothers and newborns. Report from six-district surveys in Uttar Pradesh, India, 2012-2015. IDEAS Project Report. London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine.

Acknowledgement The IDEAS team wishes to acknowledge the work of Sambodhi Research and Communications Pvt. Ltd who implemented the surveys, and the cooperation of the grantees in Uttar Pradesh throughout the development and implementation process. We are grateful to the State officials in Lucknow who provided support to the survey implementation, and to all households, facilities and individuals surveyed.