Maternal Death Surveillance and Response workstream

Kenya overview 

The Emergency Obstetric and Quality of Care Unit LSTM supports quality improvement in maternal and newborn health through Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response approach. The Ministry of Health at National level, sub-national level are supported through capacity strengthening programmes, at health facilities supporting facility level MPDSR committees, sub-national MPDSR committees, and national level MPDSR committees. Additionally, a central level MPDSR secretariate based at the Ministry of Health in Nairobi was established. The secretariate has coordinated MPDSR and managed the Kenya Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths since 2015. LSTM technical team in Nairobi are active in the national MPDSR technical working group spear heading the regular production of MPDSR and Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Death Reports. The LSTM supported national MPDSR secretariate has a database of maternal deaths that occurred in mostly Kenya public health hospitals since 2014. Secondary analysis of this CEMD data has been disseminated at Kenya Obstetric and Gynaecological Conferences, GLOW Conference 2020, RCOG and FIGO Congresses, and peer reviewed publications. 

Global support for Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response  

The EmOC & QoC unit is represented on the WHO Maternal, Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response Technical Working Group, and the WHO Technical Advisory Group on Maternal Mortality and Maternal Cause of Death Estimation. 

The unit is also developing, piloting, and evaluating midwifery education modules in Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance with support from UNFPA midwifery branch. 

The EmOC & QoC unit has designed and piloted a Global MDSR Accountability framework, it is expected that if this framework is adopted, it will create a pathway achieving the ‘Response’ in MDSR and drive accountability for maternal health at all levels of the health system.