DOI: 10.3886/icpsr38494.v1
title: Tsogolo La Thanzi (TLT): Postpartum Data, Malawi, 2009-2012 [Healthy Futures]
title: Version 1

description: Tsogolo la Thanzi (TLT) is a longitudinal study in Balaka, Malawi designed to examine how young people navigate reproduction in an AIDS epidemic. Tsogolo la Thanzi means "Healthy Futures" in Chichewa, Malawi's most widely spoken language. Data are being collected to develop better understandings of the reproductive goals and behavior of young adults in Malawi -- the first cohort to never have experienced life without AIDS. To understand these patterns of family formation in a rapidly changing setting, TLT used the following approach: an intensive longitudinal design where respondents were interviewed every four months at TLT's centralized research center. Data collection began in May of 2009 and was completed in June of 2012. To assess changes on a longer time-horizon, a follow-up survey referred to as Tsogolo la Thanzi 2 (TLT-2) was fielded between June and August of 2015.
This dataset is a supplementary survey module that was administered to women TLT participants during waves 2 to 8 who reported having a new birth since their last interview, and to those in the refresher sample (wave 9) who reported a recent birth in the past 4 months. The survey focused on several aspects of the childbirth experience and the mother's and child's postpartum health.
description: The purpose of the postpartum survey was to gather information about Tsogolo la Thanzi (TLT) women respondents' pregnancy and birth experiences and the health and wellbeing of their young children birthed during the study period.
description: Tsogolo la Thanzi (TLT) is an ongoing longitudinal study of young Malawians living within a 7-kilometer radius of Balaka. Please refer to the Baseline data (ICPSR 36863) for more details on the overall study design. The postpartum survey was administered in waves 2 to 9 and can be thought of as an additional module to the main survey. The survey took approximately 15 minutes to complete and was administered immediately following the main questionnaire, before biomarker data for pregnancy and HIV were collected.
The questionnaire was occasionally administered to participants outside of the inter-survey period. In these cases, either respondents should have been given the questionnaire but were not (due to interviewer error, time constraints, or ambiguity around a child death) or respondents missed an interview after the birth and thus reported on the birth at a later time.
description: Topics covered in the postpartum module included the mother's health during and after pregnancy, medical experiences during labor and delivery, child's health status, immunizations, feeding practices and nutrition, illnesses, and sources of child care and advice.
description: Response Rates: At each wave, between 4% and 9% of women who participated in the main questionnaire subsequently completed the postpartum questionnaire.
description: For information on sampling, please refer to the Baseline data (ICPSR 36863) and the Sampling Protocol available on the Tsogolo la Thanzi study website. The postpartum questionnaire captured information on 599 recent births to a total of 578 women. Twenty-one women respondents reported on 2 new births during the study period, and an additional 28 women from the refresher sample reported a recent birth.
description: Datasets: 
DS1: Tsogolo La Thanzi (TLT): Postpartum Data, Malawi, 2009-2012 [Healthy Futures]
description: Young women age 15-25 in 2009 living in a 7-kilometer radius around Balaka, Malawi.
description: face-to-face interviewFor further information please visit the Tsogolo la Thanzi website.