Factors affecting utilization of postpartum care among mothers in rural Tanzania: a case of Moshi rural district, Kilimanjaro region

It is highly acknowledged that mothers need to be guaranteed reliable and adequate health care services during pregnancy and after delivery in order to control maternal and infant mortality. However, maternal health care provision and utilization of postpartum care in particular remains a major challenge in Tanzania. Therefore, this study explored factors that influence utilization of postpartum care in the context of rural Tanzania.The study was conducted in Rural Moshi Kilimanjaro and it involved mothers, fathers and health workers and it involved both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection. The Quantitative data were analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) and the qualitative data were analyzed using thematic analysis approach.The study revealed that the utilization of postpartum care in rural Tanzania is highly affected by lack of knowledge and awareness on postpartum care and services at heath facilities, which is attributed to age, education level and experience on child bearing, marital status, occupation and level of income. Presence of some social cultural practices also shapes utilization of postpartum care from health facilities. Importantly are health system factors such as poor services, unavailability of information, delaying of services, and bad relationship between mothers and health workers.It is recommended that more awareness rising should be done to make them aware of the postpartum services. It also important to increase number of skilled health workers, improving working environment and ensuring reliable supply of postpartum services and make the services available for everyone. Social cultural practices that promote postpartum care should be acknowledged.