The Impacts of Quality Improvement on Maternal and Newborn Health: Preliminary Findings From a Health System Integrated Intervention in Three Regions in Ethiopia

Ashley Hagaman , University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Kavita Singh, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Abiy Seifu, Addis Ababa University
Ilene S. Speizer, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Mehiret Abate, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Befikadu Bitewulign, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Haregeweyni Alemu, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Zewdie Mulissa, Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Hema Magge, Institute for Healthcare Improvement

Quality improvement (QI) methods are efficacious in improving healthcare delivery using sustainable, collaborative, and cost-effective approaches. Ethiopia’s government has prioritized quality of care to improve in maternal and neonatal health outcomes. This study assesses the preliminary impacts of a first phase, quasi-experimental, QI health systems intervention on maternal and child health outcomes in three pilot districts in Ethiopia. The intervention identified, trained, and coached QI teams to develop and test change ideas to improve service delivery. We use an interrupted time-series approach to evaluate the effects of the QI intervention across a 27 month period. Outcome indicators, extracted at the facility-level from Ethiopia’s Health Management Information System, included: proportion of mothers receiving four antenatal care visits, skilled delivery, syphilis testing, early postnatal care, and proportion of low birth weight infants receiving Kangaroo Mother Care. Preliminary findings indicate early promise of quality improvement on some maternal and newborn health outcomes.

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 Presented in Session 53. Fertility, Family Planning, and Reproductive Health: Policy and Government Intervention