title: Women's groups' perceptions of neonatal and infant health problems in rural Malawi.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To present the perceptions of women in rural Malawi regarding the health problems affecting neonates and infants and to explore the relevance of these perceptions for child health policy and strategy in Malawi.
  
  
  METHODS
  Women's groups in Mchinji district identified newborn and infant health problems (204 groups, 3484 women), prioritised problems they considered most important (204 groups, 3338 women) and recorded these problems on monitoring forms. Qualitative data was obtained through 6 focus-group discussions with the women's groups and 22 interviews with individuals living in women's group communities but not attending groups.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Women in Malawi do not define the neonatal period according to any epidemiological definition. In order of importance they identified and prioritised the following problems for newborns and infants: diarrhoea, infection, preterm birth, tetanus, malaria, asphyxia, respiratory tract infection, hypothermia, jaundice, convulsions and malnutrition.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study suggests that women in rural Malawi collectively have a developed understanding of neonatal and infant health problems. This makes a strong argument for the involvement of lay people in policy and strategy development and also suggests that this capacity, harnessed and strengthened through community mobilisation approaches, has the potential to improve neonatal and infant health and reduce mortality.
authors.affiliation: UCL Institute of Child Health.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rosato
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lewycka
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Mwansambo
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Kazembe
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Costello
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D017144:Focus Groups; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007229:Infant Welfare; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008295:Malawi; D008875:Middle Aged; D009938:Organizations; D011247:Pregnancy; D012424:Rural Population; D014930:Women; D055815:Young Adult