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Guatemala

©UNICEF/ Rodrigo Mussapp
Midwife Rosa Maria Xona Caj visits one of her patients, Carmela, who is 8 months pregnant, in February 2022 in the village of El Rancho, San Cristobal, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

Every Woman Every Newborn in Guatemala

Download the full profile with additional key demographics, progress against milestones, and more.

©UNICEF/ Rodrigo Mussapp
Claudia Marina Mocal breastfeeds her 8-day-old daughter in February 2022 in Alta Verapaz, Guatemala. Her midwife, Rosa Maria Xona Caj, attended her delivery and now visits her every 4 days to check that she and her baby are doing well. 

National mortality targets

Maternal
mortality ratio

100 per 100,000 live births
by 2025

Stillbirth
rate

No data

Neonatal mortality rate

12 per 1,000 live births
by 2025

Progress to meet the national maternal, newborn mortality and stillbirth reduction targets

Photo © 2019 UNICEF/ Patricia Willocq
A group of women are waiting to be checked by the anesthetist while an expecting mother who started labor is being monitored by the gynecologists, n October 2019 at the UNICEF baby friendly National Hospital of Totonicapán, Guatemala.

Progress to meet Every Woman Every Newborn Everywhere coverage targets

MNH Acceleration Plan highlights

  • Developed a robust strategic plan to reduce maternal and newborn deaths, supported by an acceleration plan that prioritize specific territories. For example, rolling out the pilot on improving maternal and newborn health, in the department of Quiché, which had the highest maternal mortality rate (225) in 2021.
  • Integrate data on the quality of maternal and newborn care within post-obstetric event contraceptive data, including patients’ experience of care, effective referrals and an enabling environment.
  • Strengthen the capacity of human resources to use measurement tools.

©UNICEF/ Patricia Willocq
Midwife Catarina Toc  examines Ramona  who is 32 weeks pregnant, in October 2019, in the Chuisuc community of Totonicapán, Guatemala.

©UNICEF/ Rodrigo Mussapp
Midwife Rosa Maria Xona Caj visits one of her patients, Carmela, who is 8 months pregnant, in February 2022 in the village of El Rancho, San Cristobal, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

Quality of care in Guatemala

Guatemala’s successes in improving quality of care for maternal, newborn and child health are essential to help reduce maternal and newborn mortality and stillbirths. These include:

  • Integrate quality of care in the national plan to reduce maternal mortality.
  • Integrate quality of care in SMN, PF, and the experience of care, effective referrals and an enabling environment in the indicators for quality of care for maternal and newborn health.

News and events

Resources

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

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.

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.