Facebook Youtube Linkedin
Search
Close this search box.

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Our Focus

Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response

©UNFPA/Rada Akbar.
Esther Okunia is a humanitarian midwife trained by UNFPA to support women and girls who are internally displaced in DRC due to conflict. Here she carries out a prenatal examination in July 2023.

Understanding why women and babies die

We must understand exactly why a woman died during or immediately after pregnancy and childbirth or why a infant died before it was born or in the first month of life –  to prevent other women and infants dying in the same way. The causes include medical causes of death and also the personal stories and underlying factors contributing to their deaths, such as delays in seeking and accessing care. Policy-makers and managers must know, understand  and factor in this broader picture to improve their health systems.

©UNFPA.

Telling women’s and newborn’s stories

This is where the maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response (MPDSR) system comes in – an approach to end preventable maternal and newborn mortality and stillbirths. It is designed to enable 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.

MPDSR is a surveillance and quality improvement system that supports the achievement of the Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere coverage targets and contributes to achieving the SDG mortality targets.

– Source: Improving maternal and newborn health and survival and reducing stillbirth: progress report 2023. Geneva: World Health Organization; 2023

©UNFPA.
A midwife and pregnant woman in Bhutan in March 2023.

MPDSR: acting on the evidence

MPDSR involves a diverse range of stakeholders, including communities, health workers, professional associations, the Ministry of Health and partners to identify maternal or perinatal deaths, select cases to analyse, understand why, how and where the deaths occurred, and take action to prevent similar deaths occurring in the future.

Simultaneously, MPDSR monitors progress in implementing recommendations for change. It follows a cycle of notification, review, analysis and response for maternal deaths, stillbirths, and newborn deaths. It takes into account deaths in health facilities and in communities.

*Maternal Mortality Ratio, ** Perinatal Mortality Ratio

Source: Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response: materials to support implementation.
Geneva: World Health Organization; 2021 (https://iris.who.int/handle/10665/348487).

MPDSR complements other national information systems, but the extent of integration of MPDSR with these existing systems varies from one country to another.

News and events

Load More

Resources

View Resources

Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere Results Framework, 2022-2025

The Results Framework for EWENE, detailing deliverables for each of the ten milestones: Policy and plans, Investment, Response and Resilience, Quality of care, Health workforce, Medical commodities and devices, Data for Action, Equity, Accountability, Research/innovation/knowledge exchange.

View Resource

Six years to the SDG deadline: Six actions to reduce unacceptably high maternal, newborn and child deaths and stillbirths

A two-pager published by ENAP EPMM and Child Survival Action ahead of the World Health Assembly 2024.

View Resource

Guidance on developing national learning health-care systems to sustain and scale up delivery of quality maternal, newborn and child health care

View Resource

Explore further and accelerate change

Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response

QoC Network

Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
Healthy Futures

Get Involved

You can help us give mothers and their babies the best chance at life.

Follow us

Facebook X-twitter Youtube

Contact us

Email

Photo © 2020 WHO / Tatiana Almeida
Midwives during WHO Head of Sub-Office Dr Kai von Harbou visit to Hope Field Hospital

© 2024 ENAP EPMM | Privacy Policy | Website by Blick Creative