Technical Area

Health System Strengthening

To implement these clinical interventions, USAID addresses essential health system elements that provide the necessary platform for well-functioning maternal health services. This includes personnel, commodities, quality improvement, and monitoring and evaluation.

Health Personnel
Commodities
Quality Improvement
Monitoring and Evaluation

Health Personnel

USAID identifies policy changes and supports engagement of the public and private sectors to improve pre-service and in-service training, deployment to areas where there are poor and vulnerable populations, mandate for birth attendants to perform lifesaving interventions, and supervision and support to ensure quality of care and continuing motivation of personnel.

Commodities

Getting key obstetric and newborn drugs on national essential drug lists, rational management of pharmaceuticals including establishment of emergency drug depots, and use of logistics systems — integrated with other essential commodity systems — is essential.

Quality Improvement

Quality improvement depends on a good information system, as well as expertise in problem detection and solution. Just as maternal health programs need good training, they also require formalized systems that engage clinicians, managers and clients in regularly reviewing processes and outcomes to support an accountable and systematic review of maternal and neonatal health programs. Ongoing efforts are made to assess quality of care from the maternal and family perspective and make services more compassionate, respectful, culturally appropriate, and effective to encourage improved utilization. Quality improvement systems may include licensure and certification of service providers, as well as certification of healthcare facilities and education programs.

Monitoring and Evaluation

Capacity building is directed towards individuals and institutions to improve regular monitoring of key quantitative indicators such as antenatal, skilled birth attendant and postpartum/newborn care coverage; maternal and newborn deaths; complications rates and case-fatality ratios; as well as audits of deaths and serious complications. Success in this area rests on improvement of regular health information systems.

Learn about the Maternal Health Strategy.