Table 2

Process evaluation

Process measure	Assessed by:
Programme reach	Uptake (from recruitment rate); Randomisation; Retention; Characteristics of women recruited (age, ethnicity, living arrangements, index of multiple deprivation, education and employment) Follow-up data at 8 weeks and 6 months.
Fidelity of delivery by feeding helpers	Analysis of the content of recorded face-to-face and text interactions between feeding helpers and mothers; Activity logs kept by feeding helpers; Qualitative interviews with feeding helpers and women in the intervention group to triangulate data.
Use of local and personal assets for feeding support	Analysis of the content of recorded face-to-face and telephone discussions between feeding helpers and mothers; Qualitative interviews with both feeding helpers and women.
Mothers’ views of the ABA feeding helper intervention and acceptability	Qualitative interviews with the mothers (approximately 20 intervention and 10 usual care).
Views of feeding helpers in relation to training, acceptability and satisfaction	Qualitative interviews (all feeding helpers will be invited to be interviewed).
Views of other providers of maternity services in relation to integration of the intervention with other support offered to women	Through telephone interviews with a range of professionals/service providers (n=12).
Presence of social desirability bias:	Feeding helper logs; Text messages; Recorded interactions; Interviews with mothers and feeding helpers; Routine feeding status data.