Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parents

A study published in Nature on June 4, 2026, demonstrated that interventions combining home visits and cash transfers significantly improved infant birth weights in the Indian state of Bihar. The research, conducted over a period of 18 months, involved 1,500 pregnant women and found that infants born to mothers receiving these combined interventions weighed, on average, 76 grams more than those in a control group. This increase in birth weight is considered clinically significant and is associated with better long-term health outcomes for the infants. The cash transfer component provided approximately $100 USD over the course of the pregnancy, intended to help mothers afford better nutrition and healthcare. The home visit component involved trained health workers providing guidance on maternal nutrition, hygiene, and prenatal care. Researchers from the Indian Institute of Public Health and the University of California, Berkeley, collaborated on the study, which tracked the health of mothers and infants from pregnancy through the first year of the child's life. The findings suggest that such integrated programs can be an effective strategy for improving maternal and child health in low-resource settings.