This toolkit explores ways of influencing behaviours and encouraging use of health services and health professionals during childbirth and the postpartum period. A number of factors can prevent pregnant women from accessing skilled care, often putting themselves and the child at risk. They include availability of health services and high costs but also, and crucially, local culture, family and community behaviours and traditional practices. The CHANGE Project's approach, and this tool in particular, stress locally appropriate, behaviour-based interventions that integrate what is happening in homes, communities and health facilities. Key topics discussed include: seeking skilled care; seeking skilled care early postpartum; birth preparedness; providing skilled care. For each topic a summary is provided together with a range of useful tools and documents. This tool is aimed at organisations and individuals working in the field of mother and child health, and willing to look at maternal and child survival issues from a behaviour change perspective