Table 3 Individual and Interpersonal Facilitators

Social Support

“The hospital is an hour walk from my home. For most referral visits, I walk with my sister-in-law, but for my last delivery, our neighbors let us borrow their bike so that we could reach the facility on time.”

“My husband stays in Udaipur City, where he is a laborer. He only returns once every month, so he cannot take me to the hospital. Usually, my sister-in-law or neighbor walks with me to the nearest bus stop and we go together. Once, my neighbor took me and his pregnant wife, who also was due for a referral, on a motorbike.”

“I do not have my own mobile phone but I have my husband’s mobile number printed on a wall in my house. He lives and works in Udaipur City, so if I need to call him my neighbors let me borrow their mobile phone.”

“Our family does not have a mobile phone, but we use our neighbor’s mobile phone to call a private car or an ambulance when we have to go to the hospital for delivery.”

“If I need to go to the hospital with my husband, my sisters-in-law or neighbors take care of my children and watch our house.”

For the participants who overcame these barriers and completed a referral visit, the strongest facilitator was social support from extended family or neighbors in the following forms: access to a personal vehicle for transport, accompaniment to the referral visit, access to a mobile phone for communication, and household support such as childcare.