‘’What you are asking is not what we are told to prepare’’: a community based study describing birth preparedness and complication readiness among postpartum women in a rural district, northern Tanzania

BPCR database collected in Babati rural Tanzania in 2019.This study aimed to assess knowledge and practice of birth preparedness and complication readiness among women in a Babati rural district, northern TanzaniaMethods: A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in July 2019, among women who delivered in the 24 months prior to the study. Questionnaires were used for data collection, which included demographic data, ante natal care history, and knowledge of danger signs, birth preparedness and readiness of its complications.Two wards (Dareda and Magugu) were randomly selected out of 25 wards in the district. At Magugu and Dareda wards, the district RCH coordinator introduced us to the village chairpersons and village health workers (CHWs). Five villages were selected for the study. The CHWs developed a list of households with women who have children of 2 years or less in the five villages, and 70 household in each of the villages were randomly selected. At the field starting point was identified at the village with assistance of village chairperson and data was collected from one house to another with aid of CHWs. Data collection started at 9 a.m and continued to 6pm. Before interviewing, the participant was informed of the aims and objectives of the study and was asked for consent to participate in the study. Six undergraduate students (Medical students year 4) collected the data, three at Magugu and three at Dareda. A Swahili questionnaire [TJ1] was used to collect information from the participants. The interviews were conducted at either the participant’s home, or at health facility room depending on the preference of the participant. After finishing data collection verbal observation from the field was shared with the DMO, which was followed by a full research report of the study after completion.