Table 2. Parents and guardians accounts of anticipated drivers to accept the performance of MITS on their deceased children.

Themes and categories	Illustrative quotes/respondent
To comply with hospital regulations	“I will accept because it is a law…”–mother of deceased infant
To gain knowledge on the cause of death     • Parent’s entitlement to know     • To overcome the disappointment from not knowing the cause of death     • Community’s pressure to receive feedback on what caused the death     • To help the community with increased knowledge on causes of death	“The baby had vomits and diarrhoea but nobody informed me about why he died, so I am sad.”–mother of deceased infant “The mother gave birth at the hospital. Two days later, the baby died at home and the mother returned to the hospital with the dead body. . . People at the community asked about the cause of death, so, if we knew, we would have answered. To know what killed the baby will help the community.”–Grandmother of a deceased new-born “The MIA should be done as soon as possible after the death, before the family and other people arrive for the ceremonies…in that way we could explain to them [the cause of death]”–grandmother of a stillborn
To address suspicion on the cause of death     • If negligence is suspected     • If witchcraft/traditional cause is suspected     • To clarify sudden death	“I do not know the cause of death, but somebody told me that it was a “traditional illness” and, if the mother is not “traditionally treated”, all her babies will die.”–grandmother of a deceased neonate “I will accept MITS to know the cause of death, to know if the health professionals maltreated or neglected the mother or the baby.”–father of a deceased neonate “The mother gave birth at the hospital. 2 days later, the baby died at home and the mother came back to the hospital with the dead body…to know what killed the baby.”–grandmother of deceased neonate. “I will accept because my daughter’s death was a sudden death and we must know what happened.”–father of a deceased child
To prevent further adverse health outcomes     • To prevent further deaths in the family     • To control contagious diseases     • To save lives in the community	“I will accept MIA because when the cause of the death is known it is possible to prevent it in the future. MIA will allow the family to know why the child died.”–father of deceased child “If there is a contagious disease, the rest of the family can react.”–father of a deceased neonate “…to know the cause of death and to save others.”–mother of deceased infant