Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation in Pregnancy: Findings from the Baseline Assessment of a Maternal Nutrition Service Programme in Bangladesh.

Effective coverage of antenatal iron and folic acid (IFA) supplementation is important to prevent adverse maternal and newborn health outcomes. We interviewed 2572 women from two rural districts in Bangladesh who had a live birth in the preceding six months. We analysed the number of IFA tablets received and consumed during pregnancy and examined the factors influencing IFA consumption by multiple linear regression and user adherence-adjusted effective coverage of IFA (consuming ≥180 IFA tablets) by Poisson regression. Overall, about 80% of women consumed IFA supplements in any quantity. About 76% of women received antenatal care at least once, only 8% received ≥180 IFA tablets, and 6% had user adherence-adjusted coverage of antenatal IFA supplementation. Multivariable analysis showed a linear relationship between the number of antenatal care (ANC) visits and the number of IFA supplements consumed, which was modified by the timing of the first ANC visit. Women's education, free IFA, and advice on IFA were also associated with higher IFA consumption. Interventions targeting at least eight ANC contacts, starting early in pregnancy, providing advice on the importance of IFA, and providing IFA supplements in higher quantity at ANC contacts are likely to increase effective coverage of antenatal IFA supplementation.

Achieving equitable uptake of handwashing and sanitation by addressing both supply and demand-based constraints: findings from a randomized controlled trial in rural Bangladesh.

BACKGROUND: Supply driven programs that are not closely connected to community demand and demand-driven programs that fail to ensure supply both risk worsening inequity. Understanding patterns of uptake of behaviors among the poorest under ideal experimental conditions, such as those of an efficacy trial, can help identify strategies that could be strengthened in routine programmatic conditions for more equitable uptake. WASH Benefits Bangladesh was a randomized controlled efficacy trial that provided free-of cost WASH hardware along with behavior change promotion. The current paper aimed to determine the impact of the removal of supply and demand constraints on the uptake of handwashing and sanitation behaviors across wealth and education levels. METHODS: The current analysis selected 4 indicators from the WASH Benefits trial- presence of water and soap in household handwashing stations, observed mother's hand cleanliness, observed visible feces on latrine slab or floor and reported last child defecation in potty or toilet. A baseline assessment was conducted immediately after enrolment and endline assessment was conducted approximately 2 years later. We compared change in uptake of these indicators including wealth quintiles (Q) between intervention and control groups from baseline to endline. RESULTS: For hand cleanliness, the poorest mothers improved more [Q1 difference in difference, DID: 16% (7, 25%)] than the wealthiest mothers [Q5 DID: 7% (- 4, 17%)]. The poorest households had largest improvements for observed presence of water and soap in handwashing station [Q1 DID: 82% (75, 90%)] compared to the wealthiest households [Q5 DID: 39% (30, 50%)]. Similarly, poorer household demonstrated greater reductions in visible feces on latrine slab or floor [Q1DID, - 25% (- 35, - 15) Q2: - 34% (- 44, - 23%)] than the wealthiest household [Q5 DID: - 1% (- 11, 8%). For reported last child defecation in potty or toilet, the poorest mothers showed greater improvement [Q1-4 DID: 50-54% (44, 60%)] than the wealthier mothers [Q5 DID: 39% (31, 46%). CONCLUSION: By simultaneously addressing supply and demand-constraints among the poorest, we observed substantial overall improvements in equity. Within scaled-up programs, a separate targeted strategy that relaxes constraints for the poorest can improve the equity of a program. TRIAL REGISTRATION: WASH Benefits Bangladesh: ClinicalTrials.gov , identifier: NCT01590095 . Date of registration: April 30, 2012 'Retrospectively registered'.