Our Focus
QoC Network
Photo: Samira, a midwife, gives health advice to a patient in Foladi clinic in October 2016 in Bamyan, Afghanistan. © UNFPA/Rada Akbar
A commitment to quality of care
The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (Quality of Care Network), works to ensure that every pregnant woman and newborn receives good quality care throughout pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period. The World Health Organization, together with country governments and partners established the Quality of Care Network in 2017 as a response to the unacceptably high maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity occurring in health facilities in many countries because of poor quality care.
: A midwife is presenting a newborn to the mother at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in January 2022. © UNFPA/Lisa Thanner
The Quality of Care Network has two goals:
- Halve maternal and newborn mortality in health facilities in Network countries, as well as stillbirths.
- Improve the experience of care in the participating countries.
Leadership, action, learning and accountability
The Quality of Care Network supports countries in achieving their targets to end preventable maternal, newborn and child deaths, and stillbirths and to work towards universal health coverage by pursuing four strategic objectives:
1
Leadership
Build and strengthen institutions and mechanisms for improving quality of care in the health sector.
2
Action
Accelerate, sustain and scale up implementation of quality of care improvements for mothers, newborns, and children.
3
Learning
Facilitate South-South collaboration to facilitate and sustain high quality care to achieve reliable Maternal, newborn and child health quality of care. See the Quality of Care Learning Hub.
4
Accountability
Develop or strengthen, and sustain institutions and mechanisms for accountability for maternal, newborn and child health quality of care at scale based on a strengthened measurement agenda.
Source: Hera, Quality of care network review and preparations for the next phase of the unfinished agenda for MNCH quality of care, 2022.
The impact
Nationally, the Quality of Care Network countries:
- Have developed national structures and systems for quality of care.
- Have adapted and adopted guidelines and standards for quality of care.
- Have started to expand quality improvement initiatives to more learning sites, and to other health sector areas.
Globally, the Quality of Care Network:
- Energised the global agenda for improved quality of care, including by combining the focus on global standards with the contextualised experience of their implementation at country level.
- United efforts of international organisations and initiatives under a common approach to improve the quality of maternal, newborn and child health care.
Source: Quality of care network review and preparations for the next phase of the unfinished agenda for MNCH quality of care, Hera, 2022.
: A midwife is presenting a newborn to the mother at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in January 2022. © UNFPA/Lisa Thanner
An asset for Every Woman Everywhere
From 2025, the work of Quality of Care Network will be geared to accelerate progress for maternal and newborn survival and wellbeing and reducing stillbirths in the countries that are part of the Network, in support of Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere. The priority will be to roll-out life-saving interventions at sub-national level to address the leading causes of maternal and newborn mortality and stillbirths. (Link to internal ‘Critical interventions’ page), in line with Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere’s priorities (link to ‘Priority actions’ page).
A global partnership, led by countries
There are currently 11 country governments leading the Quality of Care Network: Bangladesh, Côte d’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Kenya, Malawi, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, and Uganda, (link to each of the country pages). They are supported by the World Health Organization, UNICEF and UNFPA, and, over the year, a growing partnership of development organizations, NGOs, funding agencies, professional associations and universities. Partners include:
: A midwife is presenting a newborn to the mother at Panzi Hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in January 2022. © UNFPA/Lisa Thanner
- Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
- MSD for Mothers
- International Confederation of Midwives (ICM)
- International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO)
- Jhpiego
- Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine
- Save the Children
- UNFPA
- University College London
- USAID
- WHO
- Council of International Neonatal Nurses (COINN)
- Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)
- International Council of Nurses (ICN)
- International Pediatric Association (IPA)
- London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
- Management Sciences for Health (MSH)
- The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH)
- UNICEF
- University Research Co., LLC – Center for Human Services (URC-CHS)
- USAID ASSIST
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