Background: Socio-economically disadvantaged women have poor maternal health outcomes. Maternal health interventions often fail to reach those who need them most and may exacerbate inequalities. In Bauchi State, Nigeria, a recent cluster randomised controlled trial (CRCT) showed an impressive impact on maternal health outcomes of universal home visits to pregnant women and their spouses. The home visitors shared evidence about local risk factors actionable by households themselves and the program included specific efforts to ensure all households in the intervention areas received visits.
Purpose: To examine equity of the intervention implementation and its pro-equity impact.
Research design and study sample: The overall study was a CRCT in a stepped wedge design, examining outcomes among 15,912 pregnant women.
Analysis: We examined coverage of the home visits (three or more visits) and their impact on maternal health outcomes according to equity factors at community, household, and individual levels.
Results: Disadvantaged pregnant women (living in rural communities, from the poorest households, and without education) were as likely as those less disadvantaged to receive three or more visits. Improvements in maternal knowledge of danger signs and spousal communication, and reductions in heavy work, pregnancy complications, and post-natal sepsis were significantly greater among disadvantaged women according to the same equity factors.
Conclusions: The universal home visits had equitable coverage, reaching all pregnant women, including those who do not access facility-based services, and had an important pro-equity impact on maternal health.
Keywords: health equity; home visits; implementation research; maternal health; universal health coverage.