This event launched WHO's Implementation Guide for improving quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health which provides practical guidance for policy makers, programme managers, health practitioners and other actors working to establish and implement quality of care (QoC) programmes for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) at national, district and facility level.
In this launch event, Ministries of Health leads and partners shared their experience and lessons learned in implementing quality of care for MNCH programs at national, district and facility levels.

Session plan:

Welcome and opening remarks: Dr Anshu Banerjee, Director, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, and Ageing, WHO Geneva

Introduction of the Guide: Dr Blerta Maliqi, Lead Policy, Programmes and Strategy, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, and Ageing, WHO Geneva

Network Country Experiences

• Sr Aynalem Legesse, Quality Officer,  Health Service Quality Directorate, Ministry of Health Ethiopia
• Ms Selina Dussey, Acting Head of Quality Management Unit, Ministry of Health Ghana
• Dr Frederick Adomako-Boateng, Director of Health, Bono East Region, Ghana Health Service

Panel discussion - Use of this Guide moving forward

Facilitated by Martin Dohlsten, Technical Officer, Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health, and Ageing, WHO Geneva

• Ms Minara Chowdhury, Senior Director, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
• Prof Alexander Manu, Associate Professor, Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine
• Dr Kathleen Hill, Senior Quality Advisor, USAID’s MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership/Jhpiego
• Dr Shams Syed, Quality of Care Unit Head, Department of Integrated Health Services, WHO Geneva

Questions & Answers with audience

Closing remarks: Martin Dohlsten, WHO Geneva

This webinar was hosted by the World Health Organization, the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the QoC subgroup of the Child Health Task Force.

Top photo credit: UNICEF Ethiopia/2016/Mulugeta Ayene

This webinar launched the report: 'The network for improving quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health: evolution, implementation and progress: 2017-2020'. This session took a deeper dive into findings on the evolution of the Network, the lessons learned, and the critical levers countries interested in implementing quality of care at scale need to consider. Presenters and panelists included Ministries of Health representatives, experts from partner organizations, WHO and UNICEF.

Session plan:

Part 1: Progress in implementation of the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. Findings and recommendations from the first Network report

Part 2: Reflections from Network implementing countries and partners

Part 3: The way forward: interactive discussion, questions and answers

This was the last webinar  in a series on 'Lessons learned by the Network countries in their efforts to build and institutionalize systems to sustain and scale up Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health' hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

© UNICEF/UN0157449/Ayene

Tuesday 13 April 2021 at 8am EDT, 12pm GMT and 2pm CET.

This webinar presented Tanzania's experience in improving quality of care at district level and share results, best practices and lessons learned from the implementation.

This webinar was the third in a series on 'Lessons learned by the Network countries in their efforts to build and institutionalize systems to sustain and scale up Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health' hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

© UNICEF/UN0306414/Abdul

Wednesday 7 April 2021 at 8am EDT, 12pm GMT and 2pm CET.

This webinar presented Bangladesh's progress to date and key lessons learned from introducing and scaling up implementation of quality of care standards for maternal and newborn health.

This webinar was the second in a series on 'Lessons learned by the Network countries in their efforts to build and institutionalize systems to sustain and scale up Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health' hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

Wednesday 31 March 2021 at 8am EDT, 12pm GMT and 2pm CET.

This webinar presented Ghana's progress to date and key lessons learned from introducing and scaling up implementation of Quality of Care standards for maternal and newborn health.

This webinar was the first in a series on 'Lessons learned by the Network countries in their efforts to build and institutionalize systems to sustain and scale up Quality of Care for Maternal and Newborn Health' hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, with the support of UNICEF and the World Health Organization.

In November 2019, the Ministry of Health Malawi finalized the adaptation of the Quality of Care standards for maternal and newborn health and pediatric care. In 2020, the Ministry of Health developed quality improvement assessment tools to enable health facilities to report on the adapted standards. The QI assessment tools are comprehensive and use a scoring method on each standard to measure how each facility is fairing.

This webinar shared Ministry’s experience in developing and in implementing the QI assessment tools and share lessons learned in this process.

The webinar is co-hosted by the Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and the Quality of Care subgroup of the Child Health Task Force, with the support of the World Health Organization.

© UNICEF/UN0234976/Chikondi

The Safe Delivery App, developed by the Maternity Foundation, has been used to build the skills, knowledge and confidence of birth attendants in Ethiopia since 2013. It is now part of the national curriculum, as well as taught as part of in-service and on-the-job training for birth attendants, and an integral part of the country's efforts to improve the quality of maternal care.

Presenters:

• Hiwot Wubshet presented the key features of the Safe Delivery App and how it has been used in Ethiopia to help birth attendants handle the most common childbirth complications.  She also presented, on behalf of Zenebe Akale Tilaye, the national scale-up plan for the App, and how it is now integrated as a tool in a catchment-based mentorship system. 
• Maurice Bucagu addressed the need to maintain quality essential health services, including for maternal and newborn care, during the COVID-19 outbreak.

See whole series

Dr Talhiya Yahya introduced Tanzania's Star Rating System and how it support the country's efforts to improve quality of care. Dr Roder-DeWan, UNICEF, shared the main lessons on how the system fostered learning in primary health care facilities and how it fared as a quality assessment tool. Nana Mensah Abrampah, World Health Organization, discussed the link between quality assurance and quality improvement and addressed the imperative of maintaining quality essential health services during the COVID19 outbreak. 

See their presentations, as well as a paper published on the Star Rating System,  in the right hand menu. Listen to the recording here.

The webinar looked at how a birth companionship programme in Western Tanzania evolved from a an innovation in a few facilities to  an initiative informing a national policy on respectful care.   

Lessons from Thamini Uhai's birth companionship programme, and a brief introduction to WHO's upcoming guidance on birth preparedness during the COVID-19 outbreak.           

The webinar presented key findings form study assessing water, hygiene and sanitation (WASH) in 14 public hospitals in Kenya and how it impacts patient safety and quality of care. 

The study ‘Evaluating the foundations that help avert antimicrobial resistance: Performance of essential water sanitation and hygiene functions in hospitals and requirements for action in Kenya’, conducted by the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme and partners , looks into the key drivers that improve WASH in facilities, such as infrastructure, availability of resources, leadership and innovations. The study zooms on the ward level to show how differences in accessing WASH can occur within a facility.