One-time transfers of $1000 in cash to households with pregnant women in rural Kenya reduced infant mortality in the area by 48%, new research showed.

The study, led by the University of California-Berkeley and Oxford University, tracked more than 100,000 births and found there was a 45% increase in hospital deliveries after the one-time mobile money transfer from the non-profit GiveDirectly. It also found that women worked 51% fewer hours in their third trimester and in the months after giving birth, following the intervention.

With USAID cuts in Kenya estimated at around $225 million — 46% of its former budget in the country — there is a significant risk going forward to infant and perinatal health. The study determined that cash interventions should be more widely used in aid efforts, as “a scalable, cost-effective. By Paige Bruton, Semafar