Effective use of maternal health information among pregnant women in Tanzania towards achievement of sustainable development goals

Background Good maternal health is essential (UN Sustainable Development Goal 3). Pregnant women need to effectively evaluate and utilize health information for proper health decision making. Purpose To examine the ability of pregnant women to evaluate and utilize maternal health information in the Coastal region of Tanzania (a region with high levels of maternal morbidity). Methodology Mixed research approach and descriptive cross-sectional design were used to collect data from 132 pregnant women and 8 nurses/midwives using questionnaires and focus group discussions as data collection methods. IBM SPSS version 21 was used to analyse quantitative data, while thematic analysis was used to analyse qualitative data. Findings Many of the pregnant women surveyed (64/128) had low or very low perceived abilities to evaluate maternal health information, but most women, according to health care staff, made appropriate decisions to seek help to avoid major risks. The higher the level of education of a pregnant woman, the higher, generally, her perceived evaluation skills. Conclusion Low ability to evaluate maternal health information affects the effective utilization of maternal health services. Collaboration between libraries and health facilities is recommended for the repackaging of information in a user-friendly format.