Table 2 Analytical framework

Perceived Benefits of home visits and phone consultations

Women & Village Health Teams

• Perceived Benefits of home visits for the mother

• Mediated appointments between pregnant women/mother and health workers

• Promoted trust in the health system

• Indirectly improved level of knowledge for VHTs

• Perceived benefits of home visits for the newborn

• Facilitated access to care & additional information and improved the referral process

• General benefits of home visits

• Encouraged maternal and newborn service utilisation

• Perceived benefits of mobile phone consultation for the mother and newborn

• Phone consultations saved time and reduced transport costs

• Now we are famous in the

• community- Elevated social status for VHTs & Participant women

• Promoted confidence among VHTs, ingredient for sustainability of voluntary programme

• Perceived benefit for the newborn

• Provided additional information and lead to attitudinal change

• Women felt better cared for than before the program began Elicited male partner support

• Perceived general benefits of mobile phone consultation

Perception regarding recommended newborn care practices

Women & Village Health Teams

• Perceptions about newborn care-

• Nearly all VHTs practiced recommended practices Women & VHTs perceived as beneficial recommended maternal and newborn care practices

• Lived experiences are powerful tools for attitudinal change-prerequisite for behaviour change

• none application of substance on the cord-

• delayed bathing for 3 days-

• initiation of breastfeeding within one-hour and avoiding pre-lacteal feeds

• Some VHTs doubted practicalities of delayed bathing and exclusive breastfeeding

• Recommended practices not accepted in minority of VHTs-may compromise the benefits of home visits

Perception regarding delegation of promotional maternal and newborn messages to VHTs

Professional health workers

• Beneficial

• Mostly accepted by professional health workers to delegate promotional maternal and newborn interventions

• Acceptable to work with VHTs

• Sceptics about competencies of VHTs to offer maternal and newborn care

• Not beneficial

• Maybe

• Caution about their mandate and how much they can perform regarding maternal and newborn care

• Fear of over “professionalising” VHTs

• Abuse of the responsibility accorded to them