Abstract:

B ackg ro und: I n 2 0 1 7, ane sti m at ed 5 4 0 womenin S u b-S ah ar an Afri ca di ed ev ery day fr om pr ev e nt a bl e causesr el at edto pr egnan cy andc hil d birt h. T o st emt hi spu bli c-he alt h cri si s, the WHO recommendsa m at er n al andneon at al he alt hco nti n uity of p ati e nt c ar e, y et mo st womendon ot me et t hi s recommend ati o n. S urv ey ssugge st th at illit er a cy li mit su pt ake of the pr oposedm at er n al-newb or n package, y et littl eisknownabouttheasso ci ati onb et ween illit er a cy andhe alt hc ar ese eki ng, p arti c ul arl yin r ur al re gi ons of lo wi ncomecou ntri e s. T hi skno wl edgegapcom pr o mi sesthea bility of pu bli che alt h ex p ert sandhe alt hc ar e pr ovi d er sto pr ovi dec ult ur all yr el ev a nt p oli cy and pr a cti c e. T obe gi ntoad dr ess t hi sgapt hi s st u dy ex pl or esthe ex p eri encesr el at edtoc ar e-se eki ng by illit er at e, pr egna nt womeninr ur al T anza ni a.

M e th ods: A qu alit ati ve st u dy wascondu ct edinfo ur commu niti esencompas si ng ei g ht focus gr oup di scus si ons wit h 8 1 illit er at ewomen, 1 3 i nt ervi ews wit h illit er at ewomen of re pr odu cti veageands ev en i nt ervi ews wit hmemb er s of thesecommu niti esp er c ei vedtohavesomeinuenceo nwome n’sde ci si ons conc er ni ngp eri n at al c ar es ervi ce s. T hemesw er ecodedandth eir r el ati veimp ort anced et er mi nedu si ng fr equen cy rep ort sand cr os st ab ul ati on s.