Purpose: The MNH Program is working in nine countries worldwide in an effort to improve maternal and neonatal survival. Among other interventions, the MNH Program includes strategies to decrease delays in seeking care when a maternal or neonatal emergency occurs through promoting birth preparedness. Birth preparedness is defined as a set of knowledge, behaviors and actions undertaken by women, families, communities, healthcare providers and facilities to enhance the survival of women and newborns during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period. The MNH Program is one of the first to implement this concept programmatically and to develop methods to measure it.
Methods for measuring birth preparedness and complication readiness: From a measurement standpoint, simply having performed a behavior is not sufficient to prove preparedness. Individuals, communities and facilities must know about necessary services or systems, know how to access/provide these services or systems, and have the intent to access/provide these services or systems if necessary before an emergency arises. A series of indicators has been developed to capture this information.
Data: Population-based household surveys were conducted in Indonesia and Nepal to interview currently pregnant women, women who delivered in the past year, and the husbands of both of these groups to gather data on birth preparedness at the individual and family levels.
Results and Conclusions: The application and measurement of the concept of birth preparedness differs slightly depending on the sociocultural and health systems context. Follow-up studies are needed to correlate birth preparedness with outcomes including service use.
See www.mnh.jhpiego.org/Learning Objectives: Learning Objectives: By the end of the presentation, participants will be able to: 1) Identify issues in measurement for birth preparedness 2) Articulate the Maternal and Neonatal Health (MNH) Program’s approach to measuring birth preparedness in two country programs
Keywords: Safe Mother Program,
Presenting author's disclosure statement:
Organization/institution whose products or services will be discussed: None
I do not have any significant financial interest/arrangement or affiliation with any organization/institution whose products or services are being discussed in this session.