Building community systems for improving maternal and newborn care

26 May, 2022

Dear all,

Taking care of women before, during and after pregnancy in a manner that the women will appreciate and collaborate with the health care givers should be the desire and aspiration of every nation. Pregnant women “hear a lot of voices” and decide which voice to respond to. It may not be easy to respond to the right voice because it may not be the loudest or most appealing voice.

Building community systems for provision of quality health care within and outside the community must be well planned, executed and carefully monitored to understand what works and what does not work. Using existing, trusted and accepted community infrastructure and carefully linking them to facility based care may be helpful.

There is need to pay close attention to what is attracting the attention and focus of pregnant women and see how these can be incorporated into the health plans for provision of maternal and child care within the Universal Health Coverage agenda for every country.

Maternal and newborn health will improve if services that are community-friendly and appealing to the women and their families are linked to needed facility-based care.

Best regards

Dr. Linda A. Vanotoo

(BSc, MBChB, MTropPaed, FGCP, EMBA, PhD)

CEO - Sound Health/ PROMISE Initiative Ghana

#preventstillbirths / #preventnewborndeaths /#preventmaternaldeaths

@maternalnewbornsurvival/ @adolescenthealth/@malehealth/@mentalhealth

HIFA profile: Linda Amarkai Vanotoo is Regional Director of Health Service, Ghana Health Service, Ghana. Professional interests include: reduction of perinatal morbidity and mortality; reduction of maternal morbidity and mortality; training of health staff in care of the newborn; involving community to improve survival of women and children; research on newborns and children; data management (analysis and use for improvement in service delivery); Health system improvement. lavanotoo AT yahoo.com