Table 2 A summary of results from the chlorhexidine acceptability in central Uganda study, reported using constructs from the Theoretical Framework of Acceptability (TFA) by Sekhon et al

Affective attitude

Affective attitude implies how an individual feels about the intervention

Chlorhexidine is a pleasant solution

This will ease scale up

Burden and self-efficacy

Burden: The perceived amount of effort required to participate in the intervention

Self-efficacy: Participant’s confidence that they can perform behavior required by intervention

Chlorhexidine is easy to use

This will ease scale up

Intervention Coherence and perceived effectiveness

Intervention coherence: Extent to which the participant understands the intervention and how it works

Perceived effectiveness: Extent to which intervention is perceived to achieve it’s purpose

Chlorhexidine reduces bad smell

Chlorhexidine prevents abdominal colic

This will ease scale up

Opportunity costs and Ethicality

Opportunity costs: Extent to which benefits, profits, or values must be given up to engage in the intervention

Ethicality: Extent to which the intervention has good fit with an individual’s value system

‘Without Kyogero there is no blessing’: Desire to continue using kyogero

These are anticipated hindrances. A potential solution is to request participants to wait for umbilical cord separation before using kyogero.

‘We shall call it value added kyogero’: Desire to add chlorhexidine to the potentially ‘unhygienic’ herbal solution

‘The cord should fall off quickly’: Desire for quick umbilical cord separation

This is an anticipated hindrance. A potential solution to this is to inform participants about the possibility of prolonged umbilical cord separation and emphasize that there is no danger with this.

‘It is my mother who decides’: Multiple powerful actors and decision makers in the newborn period

This is an anticipated hindrance. A potential solution is involvement of elderly relatives in the intervention scale up.