Launch of the Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response Global Report and Legal Manual

Wednesday 19 February 2025, at 8am EST/1pm GMT/ 2 pm CET/ 4 pm EAT/ 6pm PKT. Duration: 1 hour.

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Understanding why a woman dies during or immediately after pregnancy and childbirth or why an infant dies before it was born or in the first month of life is essential to reduce preventable deaths.  

Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response (MPDSR) identifies, notifies, quantifies and determines the causes of maternal and neonatal deaths and stillbirth, and informs measures to prevent them. MPDSR enables these tragic stories of why the death occurred to be told, to improve the quality of care provided to women and their infants, and to reduce the unacceptably high burden of maternal and neonatal mortality.

This webinar will present the key findings of the report Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response: global report on decade of implementation, highlighting the progress and barriers in implementing MPDSR over the past ten years, and how MPDSR can be  successful in various contexts, including in humanitarian and fragile settings.  A gynecologist-obstetrician will share the experience of Cameroon  – one of the eight country case studies in the report.

The webinar will also introduce Strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks for maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response, a legal manual to support countries in establishing a robust and accountable system for systematically reviewing and addressing all maternal and perinatal deaths. A legal expert will share the experience of Pakistan in using the Legal Manual.

The presentations will be followed by a Q&A session.  

Speakers:

• Opening remarks – Dr. Anshu Banerjee, Director, Department for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization.
• Overview of MPDSR  – Dr. Allisyn Moran, Head of the Maternal Health Unit, Director, Department for Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization.
• The Global Report at a glance: ‘Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response: global report on decade of implementation’  –  Meera Thapa Upadhyay, Medical officer, Maternal Health, World Health Organization.
• The experience of Cameroon: Using an integrated management system to strengthen maternal and perinatal death reporting and MPDSR –  Dr. Alphonse Ngalame, gynecologist-obstetrician and public health specialist, World Health Organization, Cameroon Country Office.
• Introduction to the Legal Manual ‘Strengthening legal and regulatory frameworks for maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response’  – Eszter Kismödi, Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights Lawyer, Chief Executive, Sexual and Reproductive Health Matters-SRHM.
• The experience of Pakistan: Applying the Legal Manual  –  Syed Miqdad Mehdi, Legal Expert/Advocate High Court.

This webinar is hosted by the Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and Ageing, World Health Organization, Geneva, with the support of Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere.