The effects of postnatal health education for mothers on infant care and family planning practices in Nepal: a randomised controlled trial

Abstract

Key messages Health education is widely promoted in primary care, but there have been few rigorous evaluations of its impact, especially in developing countriesA randomised controlled trial of postnatal individual health education for mothers given by trained female health workers showed no significant impact on maternal knowledge and practices of child care or on infant health outcomes, but there was a small improvement in uptake of family planning at six months after birthThe efficacy of health education interventions that rely solely on giving people information to bring about a change in health behaviour is unproved; interventions should be evaluated before being implemented on a large scaleAlternative strategies for health promotion in developing countries such as interactions within families, peer groups, or communities may be more effective but are costly and difficult to implement on a large scale Key messages Health education is widely promoted in primary care, but there have been few rigorous evaluations of its impact, especially in developing countriesA randomised controlled trial of postnatal individual health education for mothers given by trained female health workers showed no significant impact on maternal knowledge and practices of child care or on infant health outcomes, but there was a small improvement in uptake of family planning at six months after birthThe efficacy of health education interventions that rely solely on giving people information to bring about a change in health behaviour is unproved; interventions should be evaluated before being implemented on a large scaleAlternative strategies for health promotion in developing countries such as interactions within families, peer groups, or communities may be more effective but are costly and difficult to implement on a large scale