This webinar launched the Knowledge Brief 'Implementation of Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response as part of Quality of Care efforts for Maternal and Newborn Health: Considerations for synergy and alignment'.

The webinar included a presentation on the content of the new Knowledge Brief presenting MPDSR as a key intervention to support the delivery of quality care to strengthen national healthcare systems. The Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria presented their experience in implementing the MPDSR system as part of the quality improvement process and on how integration has been created with the maternal and perinatal death review and response system at national and local level.

Session plan:

Introduction: Ms Francesca Palestra, Technical Officer, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO Geneva

Part 1: Nigeria’s experience in integrating MPDSR and QoC: Dr Samuel Oyeniyi, Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria

Questions & Answers: Facilitated by Dr Nancy Kidula (WHO AFRO), Dr Muna Abdullah (UNFPA ESARO) and Fatima Gohar (UNICEF ESARO)

Part 2: Introduction and launch of WHO’s Knowledge Brief on Implementation of MPDSR as a strategy to achieve Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health: Considerations for synergy and alignment: Dr Blerta Maliqi, WHO Geneva

Questions & Answers: Facilitated by Dr Nancy Kidula, Dr Muna Abdullah and Fatima Gohar

Closing remarks: Ms Francesca Palestra, WHO Geneva

This webinar was hosted by the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO Geneva and the Network for Improving the Quality of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

This was the second webinar in a series focused on Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR). This webinar had a specific focus on perinatal death reviews. The experience from WHO's PAHO region was shared and this includes the experience and lessons learned by implementers in a panel discussion with Guatemala's MPDSR national committee representatives, the Ministry of Health, Peru and academia from Barbados.

Introduction: Ms Francesca Palestra, WHO Geneva

Part 1: MPDSR with specific focus on perinatal death reviews: Experience and lessons learned from the WHO Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) region

Dr Andres de Francisco, Director of the Department of Family, Health Promotion & Life Course, PAHO

Part 2: Questions & Answers panel discussion:

Facilitated by Dr Pablo Duran, Regional Advisor in Perinatal Health, PAHO

• Dr Gustavo Batres Cerezo, Lic. Mario Tipol, Dr Jennifer Annaite Aguirre Morales and Dr Elizabeth Santiago, MPDSR national committee representatives, Guatemala
• Dr Mario Izquierdo, Deputy Director, General Directorate of Strategic Interventions in Public Health, Ministry of Health, Peru
• Dr Natasha Sobers, Researcher, George Alleyne Chronic Disease Research Centre, Jemmott's Lane, St. Michael, The University of West Indies, Barbados

Closing remarks: Ms Francesca Palestra, WHO Geneva

This webinar was hosted by the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, WHO Geneva, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) and the Network for Improving the Quality of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health.

The Federal Ministry of Health, Nigeria shared their findings and next steps on engaging the private sector for quality MNCH care in this webinar.

The Quality of Care Network in partnership with WHO is exploring mechanisms for engaging the private sector in delivering maternal and newborn health services with quality. Beginning with scoping exercises in Bangladesh, Ghana and Nigeria, the exploratory project is documenting the lessons from private sector delivery of quality health. The project objectives are to:

1. Analyze the drivers and the current engagement of the private sector to deliver quality maternal and newborn health services;

2. Identify opportunities for involving the private sector in working within the national health system to deliver quality maternal and newborn health services; and

3. Propose models for effective engagement of the private sector within the national health system for implementing quality maternal and newborn health services.

This webinar was part of a series that has been sharing the experience and lessons from Ghana, Nigeria and Bangladesh. This was the sixth webinar in a series on ‘Engaging the private sector for quality maternal, newborn and child health care’, co-hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the World Health Organization.

In September 2021, as part of the 3rd National Patient Safety and Healthcare Quality Conference 2021, the Ministry of Health, Ghana and Ghana Health Service hosted a National Learning Forum to discuss progress and share examples and experiences of implementing Quality Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. 

This webinar documented and shared the challenges, practical solutions and lessons learned by Ghana in implementing and scaling up quality of care for MNH. This session provided an opportunity for exchange between policy makers, managers and providers at national level, as well as among Network countries and with broader partners.

This is the second webinar in the "Network National Forum" series hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, with the support of the World Health Organization.

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, WHO has engaged with countries to ensure the continuity of essential health services. Through a special initiative, the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing has supported 19 countries: Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Cameroon, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Ethiopia, India, Kazakhstan, Myanmar, Nepal, Nigeria, Pakistan, Romania, South Africa, Sudan, Tajikistan, Timor-Leste, Uganda and Yemen in their efforts to mitigate the impact of COVID-19 on essential MNCH services.

This global event shared and discussed countries’ experiences and lessons learned during the implementation, including establishing structures and systems to coordinate the response and ensure continuity of services,  proactive use of data to inform decision-making, adaptation of service delivery and innovation.

This event offered health policymakers, health systems, programme managers, emergency officers, MNCH programme implementers, health professionals, researchers, development and funding partners with an opportunity to interact with Ministries of Health and implementers from the 19 countries and discuss strategies to strengthen the health systems able to rapidly respond and build back better.

Session plan:

Moderated by Femi Oke

Opening remarks: Dr Anshu Banerjee, WHO Geneva

Country and regional panel:

- Panel 1: Governance and leadership - experiences, challenges and lessons learned:

• Dr Punya Poudel, Chief Maternal and Newborn Health Section Family Welfare Division, Department of Health Services, Ministry of Health and Population, Nepal
• Dr Roberta Paganini, Health Secretary, Pelotas municipality in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

- Facilitated discussion

- Panel 2: Using routine health information data for decision making:

• Dr Sabeena Afzal, Deputy Director, Federal Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations & Coordination, Pakistan
• Dr Simon Muhumuza, M&E Advisor, Makerere University School of Public Health, Kampala, Uganda
• Irina Alexandra, MATEESCU Member of National Commission of Midwives, Romanian National Order for Nurses and Midwives and consultant, Romania

- Facilitated discussion

Global lessons learned and discussion:

- Reflections from implementation so far and implications for health systems organization and response: Dr Anshu Banerjee, WHO Geneva

- Reflections and lessons learned from past disruptive events: Dr Lenka Benova, Associate Professor in Maternal and Reproductive Health, Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp, Belgium

Questions & Answers with the audience

This event was hosted by the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization Geneva

The global virtual event launched the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) coverage targets and milestones to 2025 which have been developed to support countries with setting interim targets and milestones to 2025 toward accelerating progress to meet the Sustainable Development Goal 3.1 to reduce maternal mortality in all countries.

Session plan:

Moderated by Femi Oke

2:00pm: Welcome and opening remarks - Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, WHO and Dr Natalia Kanem, Executive Director, UNFPA

2:10pm: Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality: An Overview - Dr Anshu Banerjee, WHO Geneva

2:20pm: EPMM Coverage Targets for 2025- Dr Willibald Zeck, UNFPA and Dr Allisyn Moran, WHO Geneva

2:25pm: EPMM Milestones towards improving maternal maternal health and wellbeing - Dr Sylvia Deganus, Ghana

2:30pm: Panel discussion on Advancing Maternal and Newborn Health in High-burden Countries

Panel:

• Dr Martina Baye, Coordinator of the national program to combat maternal and child mortality, Ministry of Public Health, Cameroon
• Dr Saroja Pande, President Elect, Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, Nepal
• Nick Pearson, Founder and Director at Jacaranda Maternity
• Tariah Adams, Communication and Advocacy Officer, White Ribbon Alliance, Nigeria
• Franka Cadee, President, International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)
• Robyn Churchill, Maternal Health Team Lead, Office of Maternal and Child Health and Nutrition, USAID

3:10pm: Questions & Answers

3:20pm: Next Steps - Dr Anneka Knutsson, UNFPA

3:25pm:  Closing remarks- Dr Austin Demby, Honourable Minister of Health and Sanitation, Sierra Leone