Bihar Family Health Initiative (Ananya)

Bihar Family Health Initiative (Ananya)

Ananya was funded by BMGF to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality; fertility; and child undernutrition in Bihar, India. Ananya involved multi-level interventions designed to build front line health worker (FLW) capacities and reach to communities and households, as well as to strengthen public health facilities and quality of care to increase maternal and neonatal care and health behaviors, and thus survival. From 2012 to 2014, eight focal districts in western and central Bihar.received Ananya, while 30 districts did not. Data were collected from mothers of infants 0-11 months at baseline and mothers of infants 0-23 months at 2 year follow-up, from comparable public health blocks in Ananya and Control districts to assess Ananya effects on quality and quantity of FLW home visits, postnatal health behaviors, and among older infants/toddlers, complementary feeding and vaccination. Difference in difference analyses were used to assess Ananya outcome effects in this quasi experimental study.

Inclusion Criteria:

• Mothers of infants 0-23 months residing in the catchment area of the subcenters (public health facilities) included in this study.