Participatory Action - Neonatal Mortality Down 32%

Strategy researched

Community mobilization through participatory women’s groups in poor rural and highly tribal areas.

Impact achieved

32% reduction of neonatal mortality in intervention clusters adjusted for clustering, stratification & baseline differences.

Countries of study

Bangladesh, India, Malawi, Nepal

Research methodology

Systematic review; 7 RCTs; 119,428 births

Journal

The Lancet; 2013

Journal paper title and link

Women's groups practising participatory learning and action to improve maternal and newborn health in low-resource settings: a systematic review and meta-analysis

Excerpt from Abstract

"In the meta-regression analyses, the proportion of pregnant women in groups was linearly associated with reduction in both maternal and neonatal mortality (p=0·019 and p=0·009, respectively). A subgroup analysis of the four studies in which at least 30% of pregnant women participated in groups showed a 49% reduction in maternal mortality (0·51, 0·29–0·89) and a 33% reduction in neonatal mortality (0·67, 0·60–0·75). The intervention was cost effective by WHO standards and could save an estimated 283 000 newborn infants and 36 600 mothers per year if implemented in rural areas of 74 Countdown countries."