Despite several national programs to reduce infant mortality, India had repeatedly failed to achieve its set targets for infant mortality. There are approximately one million neonatal deaths in India each year which accounts for nearly two-thirds of the infant deaths in India. India’s current trajectories of neonatal and infant mortality rates make it unlikely that it will achieve its targets for infant mortality rate for 2015 set under the Millennium Development Goals. Since two-thirds of infant deaths in India are neonatal deaths, implementation of effective neonatal care strategies would be essential to reduce infant mortality considerably. The history of child health services in India suggests an inattention to qualitative parameters, hindering a reversal of its failures. We discuss a format of mixed-methods participatory research, integrated with routine district level household surveys (DLHS), as a model of health services research which would better delineate the problems encountered in delivering effective newborn care at the primary care level.
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