Women's groups' perceptions of maternal health issues in rural Malawi.
BACKGROUND
Improvements in preventive and care-seeking behaviours to reduce maternal mortality in rural Africa depend on the knowledge and attitudes of women and communities. Surveys have indicated a poor awareness of maternal health problems by individual women. We report the perceptions of women's groups to such issues in the rural Mchinji district of Malawi.


METHODS
Participatory women's groups in the Mchinji district identified maternal health problems (172 groups, 3171 women) and prioritised problems they considered most important (171 groups, 2833 women). In-depth qualitative data was obtained through six focus-group discussions with the women's groups, three with women's group facilitators, and four interviews with facilitator supervisors.


RESULTS
The maternal health problems most commonly identified by more than half the groups were anaemia (87%), malaria (80%), retained placenta (77%), obstructed labour (76%), malpresentation (71%), antepartum and postpartum haemorrhage (70% each), and pre-eclampsia (56%). The five problems prioritised as most important were anaemia (sum of rank score 304), malpresentation (295), retained placenta (277), obstructed labour (276). and postpartum haemorrhage (275). HIV/AIDS and sepsis were identified or prioritised much less because complexity and contextual factors hindered their consideration.


CONCLUSIONS
Rural Malawian women meeting in participatory groups showed a developed awareness of maternal health problems and the concern and motivation to address them. Community mobilisation strategies, such as women's groups, might be effective at reducing maternal mortality because they can draw on the collective capacity in communities to solve problems and make women's voices heard by decision-makers.
Rosato
Mikey
M
Centre for International Health and Development, Institute of Child Health, University College London, UK. m.rosato@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Mwansambo
Charles W
CW
Kazembe
Peter N
PN
Phiri
Tambosi
T
Soko
Queen S
QS
Lewycka
Sonia
S
Kunyenge
Beata E
BE
Vergnano
Stefania
S
Osrin
David
D
Newell
Marie-Louise
ML
Costello
Anthony M de L
AM
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001294:Attitude to Health; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D006292:Health Priorities; D006801:Humans; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008295:Malawi / Q000453:epidemiology; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D008429:Maternal Welfare / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008875:Middle Aged; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000145:classification / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D012424:Rural Population; D012923:Social Class