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Every Woman Every Newborn EverywherE
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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.

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Resources

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

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Improving the quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health: implementation guide for national, district and facility levels

This implementation guide provides practical guidance for policy makers, programme managers, health practitioners and other actors working to establish and implement quality of care (QoC) programmes for maternal, newborn and child health (MNCH) at national, district and facility level.

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Integrating stakeholder and community engagement in quality of care initiatives for maternal, newborn and child health

This module aims to make stakeholder and community engagement an integral part of quality improvement initiatives and suggests approaches to make stakeholder and community engagement comprehensive and meaningful.

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Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response

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

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