The proposed project seeks to evaluate the effectiveness and implementation of the Breastfeeding Education Support Tool for Baby (BEST4Baby) intervention, an mHealth-supported community-based peer counselor breastfeeding intervention for mothers in India. Given that rates of optimal infant feeding practices have remained stagnant over the past two decades in India, and that India is the most populous country and icontributes one-fifth of all global live births, this project could have major global health implications if the intervention is found to improve maternal breastfeeding practices and infant clinical outcomes. The project will also provide evidence needed to adopt BEST4Baby nationally and in other low resource communities.

Inclusion Criteria:

• at least 18 years of age,
• pregnant and 20-27 weeks of gestation at study enrollment,
• singleton pregnancy,
• no major antepartum complications,
• living in a research site,
• planning to deliver in the cluster area,
• capable of giving informed consent,
• willing to be visited by a PC and research personnel for up to 12 months post-delivery.

Exclusion Criteria:

comorbidities impacting breastfeeding,

- severe psychological illness that could interfere with consent and study participation. Following a live birth, participants will remain eligible to continue in the study unless the mother or infant experiences: illness or clinical complications warranting prolonged hospitalization, stillbirth, low birth weight (< 2500 g), congenital abnormality, or neonatal death.

The study focuses on breastfeeding.

The survey, anthropometric measurements, and neurodevelopment assessment data will be shared.

All de-identified data will be available upon either publication of related work or completion of the project. The data will be available for at least 10 years after the funding period.