Results Most interventions combined microfinance with health education , which demonstrated positive effects on health knowledge and behaviours , though not health status .
Interventions combining multiple health components in a given study demonstrated positive effects , though it was unclear which component was driving the effect .
Discussion Integrated microfinance and health education programs were effective , though longer intervention periods are necessary to measure more complex pathways to health status .
The effect of microfinance combined with other health components was less clear .
Background Solutions delivered within firm sectoral boundaries are inadequate in achieving income security and better health for poor population s.  Integrated microfinance and health interventions leverage networks of women to promote financial inclusion , build livelihoods , and safeguard against high cost illnesses .
Our underst and ing of the effect of integrated interventions has been limited by variability in intervention , outcome , design , and method ological rigour .
This systematic review synthesis es the literature through 2015 to underst and the effect of  integrated microfinance and health programs .
Integrating group counseling, cell phone messaging, and participant-generated songs and dramas into a microcredit program increases Nigerian women's adherence to international breastfeeding recommendations.
In northern Nigeria , interventions are urgently needed to narrow the large gap between international breastfeeding recommendations and actual breastfeeding practice s. Studies of integrated microcredit and community health interventions documented success in modifying health behaviors but typically had uncontrolled design s. We conducted a cluster-r and omized controlled trial in Bauchi State , Nigeria , with the aim of increasing early breastfeeding initiation and exclusive breastfeeding among female microcredit clients . The intervention had 3 components . Trained credit officers led monthly breastfeeding learning sessions during regularly scheduled microcredit meetings for 10 mo . Text and voice messages were sent out weekly to a cell phone provided to small groups of microcredit clients ( 5 - 7 women ) . The small groups prepared songs or dramas about the messages and presented them at the monthly microcredit meetings . The control arm continued with the regular microcredit program . R and omization occurred at the level of the monthly meeting groups . Pregnant clients were recruited at baseline and interviewed again when their infants were aged ≥6 mo . Logistic regression models accounting for clustering were used to estimate the odds of performing recommended behaviors . Among the clients who completed the final survey ( n = 390 ) , the odds of exclusive breastfeeding to 6 mo ( OR : 2.4 ; 95 % CI : 1.4 , 4.0 ) and timely breastfeeding initiation ( OR : 2.6 ; 95 % CI : 1.6 , 4.1 ) were increased in the intervention vs. control arm . Delayed introduction of water explained most of the increase in exclusive breastfeeding among clients receiving the intervention . In conclusion , a breastfeeding promotion intervention integrated into microcredit increased the likelihood that women adopted recommended breastfeeding practice s. This intervention could be scaled up in Nigeria , where local organizations provide microcredit to > 500,000 clients . Furthermore , the intervention could be adopted more widely given that > 150 million women , many of childbearing age , are involved in microfinance globally
Results Most interventions combined microfinance with health education , which demonstrated positive effects on health knowledge and behaviours , though not health status .
Interventions combining multiple health components in a given study demonstrated positive effects , though it was unclear which component was driving the effect .
Discussion Integrated microfinance and health education programs were effective , though longer intervention periods are necessary to measure more complex pathways to health status .
The effect of microfinance combined with other health components was less clear .
Background Solutions delivered within firm sectoral boundaries are inadequate in achieving income security and better health for poor population s.  Integrated microfinance and health interventions leverage networks of women to promote financial inclusion , build livelihoods , and safeguard against high cost illnesses .
Our underst and ing of the effect of integrated interventions has been limited by variability in intervention , outcome , design , and method ological rigour .
This systematic review synthesis es the literature through 2015 to underst and the effect of  integrated microfinance and health programs .