Emory University
Rollins School of Public Health
PMNCH constituency
Academic, research and training institute
Focal point
Dr Lynn M. Sibley
Position
Associate professor of nursing at Emory University’s Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing
Health focus
- Health systems strengthening
Priority action area(s)
- N/A
Mission statement
The Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership (MaNHEP), based at Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, is a two-and-a-half year initiative to demonstrate a community-oriented model for improving maternal and newborn health (MNH) care in rural Ethiopia. The project, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, works in six districts in Oromia and Amhara Regions to strengthen the delivery of MNH services during the critical birth to 48-hour period when mothers and newborns are most vulnerable. Training activities focus on improving the capabilities and performance of frontline health workers to deliver these services. Other efforts seek to increase demand for MNH services by pregnant women and promote behaviors that can improve newborn survival. Finally, a continuous quality improvement approach is applied to strengthen district (woreda)-level health systems to identify best MNH service delivery practices at the community level for dissemination throughout Ethiopia. With more women and newborns receiving MNH care, maternal and newborn mortality survival rates are expected to increase over time.