Implementation Research on an Urban Private Sector Model of IYCF Counseling in Private Health Facilities in Lagos State

This was a longitudinal cohort study designed to evaluate and measure the implementation processes of a breastfeeding counseling and support intervention offered to pregnant and postpartum women in private health facilities in Lagos State, Nigeria. This study was conducted as part of the Alive & Thrive Nigeria program, implemented by FHI 360 and partners. RTI led the design, implementation, and analysis for the study, with Datametrics Associates Ltd. serving as the data collection partner in Nigeria. The study took place in 20 private health facilities. Ten facilities were assigned to intervention and 10 to comparison based on their location within the existing intervention and comparison local government areas (LGAs) for our overall impact evaluation of the Alive & Thrive program in Nigeria (NCT02975063). To be included in the study, facilities had to provide maternity and pediatric services, such as antenatal care, postnatal care, and immunizations, and be registered with the Association of General and Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria and the Health Facility Monitoring and Accreditation Agency. To ensure that the investigators would achieve their sample size, selected facilities with a monthly average of ≥40 antenatal clients and ≥20 deliveries over 3 months. All eligible women attending antenatal care on the days of data collection were invited to participate until the target enrollment at each facility was achieved. The investigators collected survey data from a cohort of 1,200 women (600 per study arm) during the third trimester of pregnancy and when their child was 6 weeks and 24 weeks. The purpose of the surveys were to obtain data on the women's breastfeeding intentions (third trimester) and practices (6 weeks and 24 weeks), their breastfeeding knowledge and attitudes, and their exposure to the intervention. To measure implementation outcomes, the investigators conducted 180 observations of client-provider interactions among a subset of women enrolled in the study and then completed a short exit interview with the women immediately after their facility visit. In addition, the investigators conducted qualitative interviews with 20 health providers and facility managers/owners in the intervention facilities at the end of the intervention to learn about the facilitators and barriers to implementation.