Impact of a targeted multimedia campaign on maternal health awareness and service utilisation in rural Karnataka, Southern India: An experimental study

Maternal health service utilization in rural India remains a persistent challenge, often hindered by gaps in knowledge and behavioral barriers. To address this, this study evaluated the impact of a targeted multimedia campaign on maternal health awareness and service uptake in a rural Karnataka community. A rigorous Solomon Four-Group experimental design was employed, where 160 pregnant or postpartum women were randomized into four groups. The intervention consisted of a six-month, culturally-tailored multimedia campaign delivered in the local Kannada language through channels including radio, video, posters, and mobile messages, while control groups received standard care.The campaign yielded statistically significant improvements in maternal health knowledge (p<0.001) and recognition of critical danger signs. Women exposed to the intervention had substantially higher odds of attending at least four antenatal care visits (OR: 3.66), choosing institutional delivery (OR: 2.78), and receiving timely postnatal care (OR: 2.78). The study design confirmed these effects were directly attributable to the intervention, not pre-test sensitization. The findings suggest that targeted, culturally-grounded multimedia campaigns are a highly effective and scalable strategy for improving maternal health knowledge and translating it into practice in similar rural settings.