Rural microfinance and maternal health: Evidence from the Uttar Pradesh Community Mobilisation and Health Program

Improving maternal health is a global public health priority with almost 295,000 maternal deaths occurring annually with the majority in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. India alone accounts for an estimated 10 percent of global maternal deaths. Although India has prioritised institutional delivery through conditional cash transfer schemes, substantial gaps persist in early identification and care of maternal complications for rural low-income populations Recently, a promising community-based intervention that builds on the concept of empowering women by providing health literacy through microfinance based women-only Self Help Groups was implemented in rural India for improving maternal health. Danish’s doctoral research at the University of Canberra, Australia evaluates the impact of membership in this Integrated Microfinance and Health Literacy (IMFHL) program on some key indicators of maternal health knowledge and preparedness.

The research used secondary survey data collected cross-sectionally from women that had delivered in the last 12 months and used multivariate regression analysis for the research studies. The study found that SHGs exerted both a dissemination effect of planned health knowledge and behavior among members, as well as facilitated a diffusion effect of the natural transfer of knowledge and BPCR practice from members to non-members when SHGs are layered up with a health literacy component. The IMFHL platform presents an example of a novel community-based strategy with the potential to interrupt the mutually reinforcing cycles of poverty and reduced healthcare-seeking in other low resource settings in India and globally to improve maternal health.