Key learnings from an outcome and embedded process evaluation of a direct to beneficiary mobile health intervention among marginalised women in rural Bihar, India.

Introduction: Mobile Vaani was implemented as a pilot programme across six blocks of Nalanda district in Bihar state, India to increase knowledge of rural women who were members of self-help groups on proper nutrition for pregnant or lactating mothers and infants, family planning and diarrhoea management. Conveners of self-help group meetings, community mobilisers, introduced women to the intervention by giving them access to interactive voice response informational and motivational content. A mixed methods outcome and embedded process evaluation was commissioned to assess the reach and impact of Mobile Vaani.

Measuring gender attitudes: Developing and testing Implicit Association Tests for adolescents in India.

We develop and test gender attitude measures conducted with a school-based sample of adolescents aged 14-17 years in India. We test a measure with survey items and vignettes to capture gender-based value and stereotypes, an Implicit Association Test (IAT) capturing gender-based value, and an IAT capturing gender stereotype. All demonstrate good internal reliability, and both IATs are significantly associated with our survey measure suggesting criterion validity, though not confirming it due to the lack of a gold standard measure on gender attitudes.

Assessing the reliability of phone surveys to measure reproductive, maternal and child health knowledge among pregnant women in rural India: a feasibility study.

Objectives: Efforts to understand the factors influencing the uptake of reproductive, maternal, newborn, child health and nutrition (RMNCH&N) services in high disease burden low-resource settings have often focused on face-to-face surveys or direct observations of service delivery. Increasing access to mobile phones has led to growing interest in phone surveys as a rapid, low-cost alternatives to face-to-face surveys. We assess determinants of RMNCH&N knowledge among pregnant women with access to phones and examine the reliability of alternative modalities of survey delivery.

Does having a mobile phone matter? Linking phone access among women to health in India: An exploratory analysis of the National Family Health Survey.

Background: The disruptive potential of mobile phones in catalyzing development is increasingly being recognized. However, numerous gaps remain in access to phones and their influence on health care utilization. In this cross-sectional study from India, we assess the gaps in women's access to phones, their influencing factors, and their influence on health care utilization.

Are stage-based health information messages effective and good value for money in improving maternal newborn and child health outcomes in India? Protocol for an individually randomized controlled trial.

Background: Evidence is limited on the effectiveness of mobile health programs which provide stage-based health information messages to pregnant and postpartum women. Kilkari is an outbound service that delivers weekly, stage-based audio messages about pregnancy, childbirth, and childcare directly to families in 13 states across India on their mobile phones. In this protocol we outline methods for measuring the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of Kilkari.

Development of a Phone Survey Tool to Measure Respectful Maternity Care During Pregnancy and Childbirth in India: Study Protocol.

Background: Respectful maternity care (RMC) is a key barometer of the underlying quality of care women receive during pregnancy and childbirth. Efforts to measure RMC have largely been qualitative, although validated quantitative tools are emerging. Available tools have been limited to the measurement of RMC during childbirth and confined to observational and face-to-face survey modes.

Effects of an mHealth intervention for community health workers on maternal and child nutrition and health service delivery in India: protocol for a quasi-experimental mixed-methods evaluation.

Introduction: Millions of children in India still suffer from poor health and under-nutrition, despite substantial improvement over decades of public health programmes. The Anganwadi centres under the Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) provide a range of health and nutrition services to pregnant women, children <6 years and their mothers. However, major gaps exist in ICDS service delivery.

Associations between intimate partner violence and reproductive and maternal health outcomes in Bihar, India: a cross-sectional study.

Background: Bihar, India has higher rates of intimate partner violence (IPV) and maternal and infant mortality relative to India as a whole. This study assesses whether IPV is associated with poor reproductive and maternal health outcomes, as well as whether poverty exacerbates any observed associations, among women who gave birth in the preceding 23 months in Bihar, India.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of data from a representative household sample of mothers of children 0-23 months old in Bihar, India (N = 13,803) was conducted.

Associations of intimate partner violence with postnatal health practices in Bihar, India.

Background: Reducing neonatal mortality is a global priority, and improvements in postnatal health (PNH) practices in India are needed to do so. Intimate partner violence (IPV) may be associated with PNH practices, but little research has assessed this relationship.

Methods: A cross-sectional analysis of data from a representative household sample of mothers of neonates 0-11 months old in Bihar, India was conducted.