Male engagement as a strategy to improve utilization and community-based delivery of maternal newborn and child health services: evidence from an intervention in Odisha India

摘要

BackgroundIn response to persistently poor levels of maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) in rural India, the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM) was launched to support the provision of accessible, affordable and quality health care in deprived and underserved communities. The Accredited Social Health Activists (ASHAs), local women, are trained as health promoters to generate demand for, and facilitate access to MNCH care in their communities. While they are also expected to provide husbands of expectant women with information on MNCH care and family planning, their reach to the husbands is limited. The aim of this study is to describe the influence of a male engagement project on the utilization and community-based delivery of MNCH care in a rural district of the country.