Publication Date April 1, 2024 Research & Evidence

Current Approaches to Following Up Women and Newborns After Discharge from Childbirth Facilities: A Scoping Review

The postpartum period is critical for the health and well-being of women and newborns, but there is limited research on the most effective methods of post-childbirth follow-up. This scoping review synthesizes evidence from high-, middle-, and low-income countries on approaches to following up individuals after discharge from childbirth facilities. The scoping review identified multiple follow-up methods after discharge, ranging from home visits to self-administered electronic questionnaires. The studies demonstrated that post-discharge follow-up of women and newborns was feasible, well received, and important for identifying postpartum illness or complications that would otherwise be missed.

Publication Date April 1, 2024 Program & Technical Resources

Introduction of the Safe Childbirth Checklist in Fragile Areas in Mali

The WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC) is a patient safety tool that consolidates essential birth practices to prevent the major causes of maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality. The tool has been implemented in the southern regions of Mali, with demonstrable results. To address maternal and newborn mortality in areas where MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience works, the SCC was implemented in 23 health facilities in the Gao district beginning in December 2022. Post-training follow-up found that 21 facilities used the tool on 1,298 out of 1,698 deliveries (76 percent). 95 percent of users reported that the tool was very useful in demonstrating that SCC use in fragile settings may be feasible and useful to help reduce maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality.

Publication Date April 1, 2024 About MOMENTUM

Strengthening Routine Immunization and Polio Eradication in DRC

This one-pager brief summarizes how MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity is supporting routine immunization capacity building, gender and equity, partnership strengthening, data quality and management, and polio eradication in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Publication Date April 1, 2024 About MOMENTUM

Strengthening COVID-19 Vaccination in DRC

This brief one-pager summarizes how MOMENTUM Routine Immunization Transformation and Equity supported COVID-19 vaccination planning and coordination, demand generation and community engagement, data quality and management, service delivery, and integration into routine immunization health services in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Publication Date February 1, 2024 Program & Technical Resources

Policy Dialogue for Respectful Maternal Care in Rwanda: Documenting Processes and Outcomes

This package of resources details the process and outcomes from a policy dialogue co-design process in Rwanda—led by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and supported by MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership—to guide the development of evidence-based Respectful Maternal Care (RMC) language for inclusion in existing policies. As a result, Rwanda’s MOH drafted and will incorporate RMC-specific policy language into its updated Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health (RMNCAH) policy and Maternal Child Health (MCH) strategic plan to promote an enabling environment and best practices for RMC.

Publication Date November 1, 2023 Program & Technical Resources

Family Planning (FP) Resilience Checklist

The Family Planning (FP) Resilience Checklist is an Excel-based tool to assess the extent to which voluntary family planning efforts, particularly in fragile settings, are integrating interventions to strengthen resilience of individual, couples, communities, and facilities to shocks and stresses, with the aim of scaling and sustaining demand, access, and use of family planning.  

Publication Date November 1, 2023 Program & Technical Resources

Counseling, Informed Consent, and Debriefing (CCD) for Cesarean Section: Hard to Define, Achieve, and Monitor – Key Findings from a Mixed Methods Study in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India, and Nigeria

Counseling, informed consent, and debriefing (CCD) before and after cesarean section comprise important aspects of respectful maternity care. However, prior research indicates significant gaps may exist in these elements of care in many low- and middle-income countries. To better understand attitudes, preferences, and practices related to CCD in the context of both emergency and non-emergency surgical obstetric care, MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics conducted a mixed methods study (including interviews, focus group discussions, observations, and record reviews) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), India, and Nigeria. This fact sheet outlines key findings. 

Publication Date September 1, 2023 Research & Evidence

Six Recommendations for Provider Behavior Change in Family Planning: Commentary

Provider behavior, at facility and community levels, is increasingly recognized as a key facilitator and, in some cases, barrier to demand for and use of quality voluntary family planning and reproductive health (FP/RH) services, which can affect FP/RH outcomes. MOMENTUM Integrated Health Resilience and MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership  team members were among co-authors for a paper published in Global Health: Science and Practice that stresses the importance of “shifting the mindset” on how practitioners implement provider behavior change interventions for more successful FP/RH outcomes. The paper contributes to a common understanding of provider behavior change and charts a way forward for this nascent, yet critical, mindset focused on improving FP/RH outcomes.

Publication Date September 1, 2023 Research & Evidence

Pre-service Midwifery Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review

In response to a global call for more midwives, stakeholders have called for increased investment in midwifery pre-service education. Given the already long list of challenges in pre-service education, the need to prioritize investment is acute, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. This scoping review in Nurse Education in Practice, authored by staff and partners of MOMENTUM Country and Global Leadership, summarizes the current peer-reviewed literature about pre-service midwifery education in sub-Saharan Africa to inform educational investments in response to the call for more midwives and WHO’s and other maternal health stakeholders call for increased investment in midwifery pre-service education.

Publication Date September 1, 2023 Research & Evidence

Counseling, Informed Consent, and Debriefing for Cesarean Section in Sub-Saharan Africa: A Scoping Review

Counseling as part of the informed consent process is a prerequisite for cesarean section. Postnatal debriefing allows women to explore their cesarean section with their healthcare providers. This scoping review in the International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, authored by staff from MOMENTUM Safe Surgery in Family Planning and Obstetrics, shares practices and experiences of counseling and debriefing, the barriers and facilitators to informed consent for cesarean section, and documents the effectiveness of the interventions used to improve informed consent found in the peer-reviewed literature.