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Child health and maternal health are priority areas for Samoa. Good maternal health is critical for the welfare and survival of the household especially for children who rely on their mothers for their basic needs. We aimed to identify positive and effective mechanisms of advice and support that would improve the experiences of pregnancy for mothers, and improve health outcomes for mothers and babies.
In total, six focus groups were conducted, involving thirty-two women. Our analysis determined that four persistent themes emerged from the analysis of the focus group data: common understanding of a ‘healthy pregnancy,’ mental health and stress, accessing pregnancy services, and sourcing information. Pregnant mothers’ current understanding of health promotion messages, for example, indicates a basic level of awareness of key pregnancy health advice.