Interactions between families and frontline workers – their frequency, quality, and equity – and coverage of interventions for mothers and newborns This IDEAS report studies the interactions between families and frontline workers and coverage of critical interventions for mothers and newborns was conducted between June 2012 and June 2015 in Gombe State, Nigeria. IDEAS focuses on the changes in indicators that were expected to improve as a result of the specific implementation activities. The aim was to estimate changes in maternal and newborn health care in areas where Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation implementation projects were operating. In this region, the project was implemented by the Society for Family Health. This is one of three country-specific reports, along with Ethiopia and Uttar Preadesh, India. It follows from the 2013 Baseline findings from Gombe State, Nigeria. The survey results suggest that while coverage of routine care across the continuum did not increase, more women who needed emergency care at the time of birth were able to access it. Important improvements in the coverage of some newborn interventions were observed, especially those that relied on the behaviours of caregivers such as delayed bathing, although none became universal. The unfinished agenda for change in Gombe State needs the continued promotion of maternal and newborn health issues amongst communities, mechanisms to improve the care provided to mother and baby immediately after birth, enhancing the supply of quality care in facilities, and an urgent agenda to address the considerable and persistent inequity in the state. This publication was written by Tanya Marchant and produced by the IDEAS project led by Professor Joanna Schellenberg at the London School of Hygiene Tropical Medicine. The IDEAS team wishes to acknowledge the work of Health Hub Ltd and Data Research and Mapping Consult Ltd. who implemented the surveys in 2012 and 2015 respectively, and the cooperation and contributions by the implementing partners in the state, Society for Family Health and PACT throughout the development and implementation process. We are also grateful to state officials in Gombe for their input and support, and to all households, facilities and individuals surveyed. The short URL for this report is bit.ly/mnh-nigeria