Indonesia: Improving Maternal and Child Health Through Training and Community Engagement

To address child stunting, MCC and the Government of Indonesia’s project combined 1) a health and education-focused community-driven development program, 2) intensive training for health providers on infant and young child feeding, 3) training for sanitarians on a local variation of community-led total sanitation, and 4) a national communications campaign related to stunting, breastfeeding, healthy eating, and hygiene. 

Mathematica conducted a rigorous randomized impact evaluation of the project in 3 of the 11 provinces where it was implemented (Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan, and South Sumatra). The project’s key long-term objective was to improve health and nutritional status among pregnant women and children, as measured by rates of child stunting, wasting, underweight, and low birthweight. The project had no impact on these outcomes, even for the cohort with the most project exposure. The Project however had an impact on some short- and medium-term outcomes related to maternal and child health, including maternal iron-folic acid tablet receipt and consumption, children receiving the number of recommended meals per day, and exclusive breastfeeding; but no effect on the number of prenatal or postnatal checkups women received, on the share of women delivering babies with a skilled provider, on the share of children immunized, on children being appropriately diagnosed for stunting, on the incidence of diarrhea, or on villages becoming open-defecation free.