A&T India Maternal Nutrition Baseline Survey 2017: Auxiliary Nurse Midwife

International Food Policy Research Institute. 2020. A&T India Maternal Nutrition Baseline Survey 2017: Auxiliary Nurse Midwife. Washington, DC: International Food Policy Research Institute. https://doi.org/10.7910/DVN/M0T8S6. Harvard Dataverse. Version 1.

This dataset is the result of the frontline health workers/auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) survey that was conducted to gather data for the Maternal Nutrition Baseline as a part of an impact evaluation study of the Alive & Thrive (A&T) interventions delivered through the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child Health (RMNCH) services in India. These include provision of iron and folic acid (IFA) and calcium supplements, interpersonal counseling on diet during pregnancy and consumption of IFA and calcium, community mobilization, and adequate weight-gain monitoring during pregnancy. A&T is a global initiative that supports the scaling up of nutrition interventions to save lives, prevent illnesses, and contribute to healthy growth and development through improved maternal nutrition, breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices. Using a cluster randomized evaluation design, the primary objectives of the A&T evaluation study in India are to answer the following questions : 1) Can the coverage and utilization of key maternal nutrition interventions be improved by integrating nutrition-focused social behavior change (SBC) communication and systems strengthening approaches into antenatal care (ANC) services under the RMNCH program? 2) What factors affect effective integration of maternal nutrition interventions into a well-established government ANC service delivery platform under the RMNCH program? 3) What are the impacts of the program on i) consumption of diversified foods and adequate intake of micronutrient, protein, and energy compared to recommended intake; ii) intake of IFA and calcium supplements during pregnancy; iii) weight gain monitoring; and iv) early initiation of breastfeeding. The baseline survey was conducted in 26 blocks in Uttar Pradesh. Thirteen blocks from two districts (Kanpur Dehat and Unnao) were randomly allocated to receive intensified maternal nutrition interventions. Another 13 blocks from the same two districts were randomly allocated to the comparison groups. The survey took place between October and December 2017 by the team from International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in collaboration with the survey firm, NEERMAN (Network for Engineering and Economics Research and Management). The baseline survey comprised 7 questionnaires: 1) Household questionnaire for recently delivered women (RDW) with children <6 months of age, 2) Household questionnaire for pregnant women (PW) of the second and third trimester of pregnancy (with detailed dietary recall), 3) Household questionnaire for husbands of PWs and husbands of RDWs, 4) Household questionnaire for mothers/mothers-in-law of PWs and mothers/mothers-in-law of RDWs, 5) Frontline health workers: Anganwadi workers (AWW), 6) Frontline health workers: Accredited Social Health Activist (ASHA), and 7) Frontline health workers: Auxiliary Nurse Midwife (ANM). The auxiliary nurse midwife (ANM) survey (along with the other 2 FLW’s surveys: AWW, and ASHA) gathered data on service provision by government FLWs and other health care providers. Data were also gathered on FLWs’ time commitment, knowledge, and training related to maternal nutrition, and their job motivation, and supervision.