Policies to promote maternal health literacy based on the role of health sector actors

In the field of maternal health, the level of health literacy can also affect the receipt of prenatal care, the recognition of risk symptoms, and the follow-up of care recommendations; however, promoting health literacy is not limited to empowering mothers, and the role of health system actors in transmitting and interpreting health information is also important in this process. This policy brief was developed based on the results of a cross-sectional study conducted at Isfahan University of Medical Sciences. The findings showed that the views of health actors in the fields of education, health, and treatment differed regarding the relationship between maternal health literacy and health indicators; with the education field receiving the highest score and the treatment field receiving the lowest score. Given the differences in perspectives, policy options were proposed based on expert participation to harmonize the understanding and role of health system actors. The options included “establishing inter-sectoral coordination in the field of maternal health literacy between health education and treatment domains; developing a common conceptual and implementation guideline for maternal health literacy at health education and treatment levels; establishing a feedback system between health education and treatment domains on experiences related to education and communication with mothers; defining indicators related to maternal health literacy in monitoring the performance of health education and treatment units; and holding joint case study meetings between actors from the three domains on maternal and perinatal complications.”