Linking Microcredit, Technology, and Promotion of IYCF Breastfeeding Guidelines in Bauchi State, Nigeria

University of North Carolina (UNC)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Initiation of Breastfeeding; Breast Feeding Exclusive

Treatments: Behavioral: Breastfeeding promotion intervention

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT01352351

11-0534

Details and patient eligibility

About

The University of North Carolina (UNC) and Partners for Development (PFD), an American non-governmental organization, will conduct a 2-year cluster-randomized controlled trial in Bauchi State, Nigeria, to test the effectiveness of two behavior change strategies for increasing the proportion of participants who exclusively breastfeed their infants until 6 months. The investigators will build upon PFD's existing microcredit and reproductive health program by adding face-to-face breastfeeding education during borrowers' meetings and bi-weekly cell phone breastfeeding messages. The hypothesis is that the control group will remain at the baseline level for exclusive breastfeeding to 6 months, while the intervention group will increase by 15%. The investigators will measure the effectiveness of the intervention by conducting baseline and final surveys with a cohort of 485 female borrowers who are pregnant at time 1 and who have a 6-month-old infant at time 2. The data will be analyzed using logistic regression adjusting for possible confounders and the effect of clustering.

Enrollment: 485 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 15 to 45 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• Participation in a microcredit borrower group sponsored by Partners for Development in Bauchi, Dass, or Ganjuwa Local Government Authority in Bauchi State, Nigeria
• Female (15-45 years)
• Pregnant at baseline

Exclusion criteria

• Female (<15 years)
• Not pregnant

Trial design

Primary purpose: Prevention

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: None (Open label)

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485 participants in 2 patient groups

Breastfeeding promotion intervention

Experimental group

Description:

Intervention: Group breastfeeding counseling during monthly microcredit borrower group meetings Weekly cell phone messages about breastfeeding

Treatment:

Behavioral: Breastfeeding promotion intervention

No intervention

No Intervention group

Description:

The no intervention group will participate in their regular microcredit borrower group meetings, but will not receive breastfeeding counseling or cell phone messages.