Terms of reference
In 2022, the World Health Organization (WHO) released its comprehensive recommendations on routine postnatal care (PNC) for women and newborns. This guideline aims to improve the quality of essential, routine postnatal care for women and newborns with the ultimate goal of improving maternal and newborn health and well-being. It recognizes a “positive postnatal experience” as a significant end point for all women giving birth and their newborns, laying the platform for improved short- and long-term health and well-being. This is a consolidated guideline of new and existing recommendations on routine postnatal care for women and newborns receiving facility- or community-based postnatal care in any resource setting. It provides a comprehensive set of recommendations for care during the postnatal period, focusing on the essential package that all women and newborns should receive, with due attention to quality of care; that is, the provision and experience of care.
Monitoring the implementation and impact of these recommendations will require efforts at health facility, sub-national and national levels based on clearly defined criteria and indicators that are associated with locally-agreed targets. The Guideline Development Group (GDG) suggested the following indicators to be considered, which have been adapted from current global recommended indicators, however there are limitations with these indicators which need to be reviewed.
- Length of stay in health facilities after childbirth: The mean length of stay (days) in health facilities following childbirth; disaggregated by mode of birth (vaginal/caesarean birth).
- Early routine postnatal care for women (within two days): The percentage of women who have postnatal contact with a health worker within two days of birth; calculated as the number of women who have a postnatal contact with a health worker while in a health facility or at home following childbirth or a postnatal care visit, within two days of childbirth of their most recent live birth in the N years prior to assessment, divided by the total number of women giving birth in the N years prior to assessment (regardless of place of birth).
- Early routine postnatal care for newborns (within two days): The percentage of newborns who have postnatal contact with a health worker within two days of birth; calculated as the number of newborns who have postnatal contact with a health worker while in health facility or at home following birth, or a postnatal care visit, within two days after birth, divided by the total number of last live births in the N years prior assessment (regardless of place of birth).
- Hepatitis B birth dose vaccination: The percentage of children who have received the first dose of the hepatitis B vaccine in the first 24 hours after birth.
With the launch of the PNC guideline and the development of accompanying tools to support countries to assess their PNC programmes accordingly (soon to be released), there is now an urgent need to develop and implement appropriate measures for national and global monitoring of routine PNC. The WHO Department of Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health and the Department of Sexual Health and Research are looking for a consultant to support the development of a full monitoring framework. A scoping review of existing PNC indicators was published in 2023 and can serve as the basis of next steps to develop a monitoring framework, as outlined below.
The objectives of these terms of reference include:
- Use the findings of the scoping review to further delineate measures captured in research studies and measures used in global and national frameworks.
- Develop a monitoring framework for PNC guideline, based on the scoping review and global indicators, including indicators, metadata, and preferred data collection platform.
- Present the draft framework at the MoNITOR Technical Advisory Group in 2025.
- Incorporate suggestions/revisions into the framework.
- Develop and submit a manuscript.
Products to be delivered:
- Draft monitoring framework
- PPT presentation
- Draft publication
Proposed timeline (subject to confirmation):
Estimated start of contract: January 2025
Completion of work: April 2025
Estimated effort: 15 days
Requirements:
- Advanced degree, preferably in public health, social sciences, statistics, or area related to MNCH and monitoring.
- Proven experience with monitoring in MNCH programmes and in the development of theories of change.
- Record of publications related to monitoring of MNCH programmes and indicator development.
- Excellent writing and speaking skills in English.
Place of assignment:
The supplier is not required to be present in Geneva to conduct this work. Any related travel needs which should arise will be made under separate cover by WHO.
Submissions:
Interested candidates shall submit their technical and financial proposals no later than 9 December 2024 at 18:00 hours Geneva time, by email to mncah@who.int with subject line “PNC/MAH/2024”