Babies’ birth weight improves with help of payments to parents

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

04 June 2026

Interventions that included home visits and cash transfers led to more strapping infants in an Indian state.

Transferring money to pregnant people can increase the birth weight of their babies, a study of almost 100,000 pregnant people shows1. The study found that a government-led programme that provided cash transfers, home visits and nutrition counselling to pregnant people in the state of Rajasthan in India was associated with an increase of around 70 grams in mean birth weight.

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doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-026-01765-5

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