Table 5. Women’s perceptions of public health posters–themes and codes from focus group discussions.

Themes	Codes
Relationship between literacy and comprehension
Illiteracy	• frustration and disempowerment, curiosity • looking at pictures only (without reading text) commonly led to misinterpretations • the poster concept should be simple and positive (taking pills for healthy baby)
Literacy	• reading text is the key to understanding the poster • the poster concept should include both positive and negative messages (taking pills for healthy baby, if not the baby will be abnormal)
Symbols	• “X” indicates “not taken” or “dangerous, you should not take it”
Perceptions related to pills	• What is it? (eg. OCP) • Beneficial, preventing congenital abnormalities • Dangerous, causing congenital abnormalities • Prevention vs. cure
Timing and consistency of folic acid supplementation	• Should take the pill regularly • Should take pill when pregnant (eg. start at first ANC visit) • Should stop pill before pregnancy (eg. OCP) • Calendar, moon, menses can represent time to take pills but need explanation, many possible misinterpretations
Local phenomenology of congenital abnormalities
Looking	• A fetus can develop the negative characteristics of someone/something that a pregnant woman looks at
Karma	• Congenital abnormalities due to deeds of the fetus or mother in past lives) • Karma can be influenced by folic acid supplementation
Dietary taboos & heat	• Hot water, other dietary taboo or OCP cause heat inside uterus