Improving quality of maternity care for women globally

Project Details

Good quality of maternity care in health facilities is critical to safeguard health and promote well-being of women and their babies. Improving women’s experiences of care requires the appropriate and effective use of clinical and non-clinical interventions, delivered in sound infrastructure, by well-trained and kind providers. The World Health Organization vision of quality care highlights the need for effective communication, respect and dignity, and emotional support to improve women’s experiences of care. However, these areas of quality are often deprioritised in research and practice.

This portfolio of work aims to inform strategies to measure and improve women’s quality of pregnancy and childbirth experiences through primary, secondary, and implementation research. Specifically, we aim to:

  1. Develop tools to measure the mistreatment of women during childbirth;
  2. Conduct analyses related to the mistreatment of women during childbirth in Ghana, Guinea, Myanmar and Nigeria;
  3. Conduct a Cochrane evidence synthesis related to perceptions and experiences of labour companionship; and
  4. Use implementation research methods to develop a model of labour companionship in low- and middle-income settings.

Researchers

A/Professor Meghan A. Bohren

Dr Özge Tunçalp, World Health Organization

Dr Bukola Fawole, University of Ibadan

Dr Mamadou Balde, CERREGUI

Dr Ernest Maya, University of Ghana

Dr Pisake Lumbiganon, Khon Kaen University

Dr Thae Maung Maung, Department of Medical Research

Collaborators

  • Department of Reproductive Health and Research, World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland
  • Cellule de recherche en santé de la reproduction (CERREGUI), Conakry, Guinea
  • University of Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria
  • University of Ghana School of Public Health, Accra, Ghana
  • Department of Medical Research, Ministry of Health and Sports, Yangon, Myanmar
  • Khon Kaen University, Khon Kaen, Thailand
  • World Health Organization (WHO)
  • United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Funding

  • World Health Organization (WHO)
  • United States Agency for International Development (USAID)

Research Group

Gender and Women's Health Unit


School Research Themes

Disparities, disadvantage and effective health care



Key Contact

For further information about this research, please contact the research group leader.

Department / Centre

Centre for Health Equity

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