Perceived Social Networks, Self Help Groups and Newborn Health
Do social and advice networks affect the likelihood of immediate breastfeeding for recently delivered women in India? This is the question Ruducha et al. (2018) explored, sampling 185 women from 36 villages in Uttar Pradesh. They found that women living in villages with an SHG had consistently higher numbers of relationship ties, health advice ties (received health advice from a person in her network) and higher density of health advice networks than women living in non-SHG areas. These ties then increased access to health messaging and strengthened the bond between local health providers and beneficiaries. A recently delivered woman was more likely to think that her family knew health workers in SHG areas with higher immediate breastfeeding rates. SHGs may serve as bridging social capital that improved women’s access to health messages and increased the linkages of the local health system of providers with the women’s family members.