Home Based Life Saving Skills Training in a Rural Area in Tanzania

Background The maternal mortality ratio in Tanzania has been persistently high for ten years with no signs of the ratio going down.The Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS) of 1999 and 2005 estimate the maternal mortality ratio to be 528 and 578 per 100,000 live births respectively (TDHS 1999, TDHS 2004/05).The major direct causes include obstetric haemorrhage, obstructed labour, pregnancy induced hypertension, sepsis and abortion complications. Most deliveries (53%) in Tanzania occur outside the health facilities. Of these 53% of births that occur outside the health facilities 31% are attended by relatives, 19% by traditional births attendants (TBA) while 3% have no assistance at all. Though, the proportional of mothers delivering in health facilities (47%) and receiving skilled attendance at birth (46%) is low but more than 94 percent of women attend antenatal care (ANC) in health facilities at least once. This indicates that there are factors that impede these women delivering in the health facilities. Low awareness of obstetric danger signs may be one of the contributing factors for delay to decide to seek care when a complication occur thus contributing the first phase of delay. Studies in Tanzania show that most women are not aware of danger signs of obstetric complications during pregnancy, delivery and after delivery. A study conducted in Mtwara rural to assess the use and determinants of skilled attendants at delivery showed that proportional of women delivered with skilled care increases with increasing knowledge of pregnancy danger signs, but it also showed that few women have knowledge of pregnancy danger signs An increasing body of evidence supports the importance of community participation in maternal and infant health programs for establishing ownership, identifying problems effectively, achieving equity and helping to institutionalize health programs. To mount an effective maternal health effort aimed at reducing maternal and infant morta