Effect of scaling up women's groups on birth outcomes in three rural districts in Bangladesh: a cluster-randomised controlled trial

Background Two recent trials have shown that women's groups can reduce neonatal mortality in poor communities. We assessed the effectiveness of a scaled-up development programme with women's groups to address maternal and neonatal care in three rural districts of Bangladesh. Methods 18 clusters (with a mean population of 27 953 [SD 5953]) in three districts were randomly assigned to either intervention or control (nine clusters each) by use of stratified randomisation. For each district, cluster names were written on pieces of paper, which were folded and placed in a bottle. The first three cluster names drawn from the bottle were allocated to the intervention group and the remaining three to control. All clusters received health services strengthening and basic training…