Abstract
Background: We were two medical students who went to Moshi, Tanzania, in the Kilimanjaro region the Summer 2002 to study the maternity health care system. During eight weeks we were collecting data from two primary health care centres, one regional hospital and one university hospital. We were studying family planning, antenatal care and delivery service, and we spent most of the period in labour wards.
Method: Through participant observation, interviews and data collection from delivery books, admission books and protocols, we aquired information for this report. Using WHO`s nine characteristics of a well-organised system of maternity care, we compared our observations to this international consensus on the subject.
Conclusion: Based on this comparison we propose some recommendations for possible improvement of the maternal health care system in Moshi.