Increasing Knowledge of Home Based Maternal and Newborn Care Using Self Help Groups
Since marginalized groups are not easily reached through frontline health workers in Uttar Pradesh, India, Mozumdar et al. (2018) examined SHGs as a vehicle to improve knowledge of home based maternal and newborn care (HBMNC). At baseline and endline, 233 women from the experimental area and 237 women from the comparison area were interviewed to measure their knowledge change in HBMNC topics. Findings showed that SHGs can increase this knowledge among women as there were significant net-increases in women’s knowledge for most of the topics, even after controlling for the background characteristics of the participants. The most significant determinant of the increase of knowledge was the women's education level. Women in the experimental arm showed a significant increase in knowledge over time for the following indicators: the importance of antenatal care (ANC) check-up, intake of two Tetanus Toxoid (TT) injections, consumption of 100 iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets, danger signs during pregnancy, danger signs for newborn child, delayed bathing of more than 48 h after delivery, skin to skin care or kangaroo mother care (KMC), and return of fertility after childbirth. At endline, significantly higher levels of knowledge were also reported among women in the experimental area compared to the comparison area in the following topics: 100 iron and folic acid (IFA) tablet consumption, cord care, delayed bathing, and KMC. Significant net-increases, which was calculated using difference-in difference (DID) analysis, were found for knowledge of the importance of ANC, consumption of 100 IFA tablets during pregnancy, first PNC check-up for mother within 24-hours of childbirth, danger signs during pregnancy and for newborn, and knowledge of KMC. However, there were still a majority of respondents who were unaware of maternal and newborn danger signs, perhaps because of the short duration of the intervention or the irregular attendance of members in the SHG meetings.