Background: Annually 2.5 million infants die in the first 28 days of life, with a significant regional distribution disparity. An estimated 80% of those could be saved if neonatal resuscitation were correctly and promptly initiated. A barrier to achieving the target is the knowledge and skills of healthcare workers. Purpose: The objective of this cluster randomized trial was to assess the improvement and retention of resuscitation skills of nurses, midwives, and birth attendants in 2 birth centers serving 60 villages in rural India using high-frequency, low-dose training. Results: There was a significant difference (P < .05) between the groups in the rate of resuscitation, with 18% needing resuscitation in the control group and 6% in the intervention group. The posttest scores for knowledge retention at the final 8-month evaluation were significantly better in the intervention group than in the control group (intervention group mean rank 19.4 vs control group mean rank 10.3; P < .05). The success rate of resuscitation was not significantly different among the groups. Implications for Practice: Improved knowledge retention at 8 months and the lower need for resuscitation in the intervention group support the efficacy of the high-frequency, low-dose education model of teaching in this setting. Implications for Research: Replication of these findings in other settings with a larger population cohort is needed to study the impact of such intervention on birth outcomes in low-resource settings.

Background: Rural areas of India exhibit high neonatal mortality, and low literacy and numeracy. We assess the effect of a complex package of health interventions on neonatal survival and the effect of out-of-school-hours teaching on children's literacy and numeracy in rural Madhya Pradesh. Methods/design: This is a cluster-randomised controlled trial with villages (clusters) receiving either a health (CHAMPION2) or education (STRIPES2) intervention. Building on the design of the earlier CHAMPION/STRIPES trial, villages receiving the health intervention are controls for the education intervention and vice versa. The clusters are 196 villages in Satna district, Madhya Pradesh, India: each is at least 5 km from a Community Health Centre, has a population below 2500, and has at least 15 children eligible for the education intervention. The participants in CHAMPION2 are resident married women younger than 50 years of age who had not undergone a family planning operation, provided they are enumerated pre-randomisation or marry a man enumerated prerandomisation. The participants in STRIPES2 are resident children born 16

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