Knowledge of Danger Signs After Delivery

The indicator measures the proportion of mothers of young children aware of at least three warning signs after pregnancy – one of the essential pre-conditions for women to seek required health care in a timely manner.

Collect the following data by conducting individual interviews with a representative sample of mothers of children aged 0-23 months:

RECOMMENDED SURVEY QUESTION (Q) AND POSSIBLE ANSWERS (A)

Q1: Sometimes after delivery, mothers have severe health problems and should be immediately taken to a health facility. In your opinion, what types of symptoms should cause mothers to go to a health facility right away?

A1: _

1) heavy vaginal bleeding

2) fast/ difficult breathing

3) loss of consciousness

3) placenta not delivered within 30 minutes after delivery

4) fever with or without chills

5) foul-smelling discharge from the vagina

6) convulsions/ rigidity

7) severe headache, visual disturbances

8) no urine output in first eight hours

9) severe abdominal pain

10) pain in calf

11) behaviour that indicates that the mother may hurt herself or the baby

Note: If less than three signs are stated, keep probing: “Are there any other warning signs you know?”

To calculate the indicator’s value, divide the number of respondents aware of at least three of the pre-defined warning signs by the total number of respondents. Multiply the result by 100 to convert it to a percentage. 

Disaggregate the data by location (rural/ urban), socio-economic characteristics (education level, wealth quintile) and the number of respondent’s children (one, two, three, four …).

1) Consider using a slightly revised indicator for assessing the knowledge of important family members who accompany mothers during and after delivery, such as their mothers, husbands or mothers-in-law.

2) This indicator relies on an accurate age assessment. Since people often do not remember the exact dates of their children’s birth, the data collectors should always verify the child’s age. This can be done by reviewing the child’s birth certificate, vaccination card or another document; however, since many caregivers do not have such documents (and since they can include mistakes), it is essential that your data collectors are able to verify the child’s age by using local events calendars. Read FAO’s Guidelines (see below) to learn how to prepare local events calendars and how to train data collectors in their correct use.