Brief on MotherNewBorNet

MotherNewBorNet
Facilitating translation of research into action

Background
The postpartum period is one of the most vulnerable for both mother and newborn, yet often neither health programmes nor mothers and families recognize this vulnerability. For mothers, death at delivery, immediately thereafter, and during the following week accounts for more than 60% of the estimated 529,000 maternal deaths. More than 4 million neonatal deaths occur every year and about 50% of these are within 72 hours of delivery (The World Health Report, 2005). Add to this mounting death toll the stillbirths that alone total nearly 3.3 million. Most of this burden of death occurs among women in developing countries who lack skilled care during labour, at delivery and in the immediate postpartum period. These numbers are large. Nearly half of women in developing countries deliver without any skilled birth care and fewer than a third are estimated to have any postpartum care (PPC).

In this context, MotherNewBorNet was launched in April 2005 with the goal moving research into practice to improve maternal and neonatal health at the community level. It is currently hosted by ICDDR,B with funds from the Global Research Activity of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Cooperating Agency projects of CATALYST, BASICS, ACCESS and POPPHI .

Objective and sub-objectives
The objective of MotherNewBorNet is to strengthen and scale-up community-based maternal and newborn health programs using evidence-based interventions. Sub-objectives for the first two years (2005-2007) include the following:

   1. Develop the network through an initial focus on community-based, integrated postpartum care for both mothers and newborns
   2. Develop the partnership through enhanced dialogue initially among USAID staff and USAID bilateral programs and global cooperating agencies
   3. Develop the partnership with implementation activities initially in the Asia and Near East region
   4. Document and support learning across projects and countries to address gaps in knowledge, programs and practices
         1. Map on-going research and identify priorities and gaps in community-based postpartum care research
         2. Map on-going programs and identify priorities and gaps in community-based postpartum care programs
         3. Share information, tools, and guidelines on maternal and neonatal health, including evidence-based best practices developed by bilateral programs
         4. Facilitate targeted assistance needs and foster partnerships to address these needs

It is expected that achievement of these sub-objectives will ultimately help MotherNewBorNet to reach the following long-term objectives:

   5. Facilitate response to research and program gaps.
   6. Advocate to promote the use of evidence-based best practices at scale
   7. Expand global knowledge on community-based integrated postpartum care
   8. Share information on models and approaches for scaling-up
   9. Promote donor and country support and resources for program and research activities.

Current focus
MotherNewBorNet will undertake a phased approach of topics, partners, and regional concentration. The current focus of the network is to improve community-based early postpartum care for mother and newborn. This area has been chosen because early postpartum care for mother and newborn has been neglected in the past despite the heavy toll of death in the postpartum period. About 45% of postpartum maternal deaths occur during the first 24 hours post-delivery, and more than two thirds during the first week. The global toll of postpartum maternal deaths is accompanied by the great and often overlooked numbers of early newborn deaths and stillbirths.

Key activities in the first two years, 2005-2007
In the first two years, MotherNewBorNet will carry out a wide range of activities to make community-based early postpartum care a priority. Key activities during this period will include:

Developing a website
Establishing a listserve
Facilitating sharing of progress reports of the member organizations
Identifying hot button topics and facilitating discussion
Mapping of programs and research
Developing advocacy tools
Arranging country level workshops
Forming advocacy groups
Developing annotated bibliographies in the relevant areas
Developing a database of resource persons
Coordinating exchange visits

Current members

Core members

USAID funded project recipients located in South and Southeast Asia, and Middle East with on-going initiatives that include one or more community-based postpartum components (e.g., birth spacing, neonatal, maternal health/survival, breast feeding promotion, immunization). These include:

India (e.g. CARE, IndiaClen, Environmental Health Project, ICMR, Search, and King George Medical University),

Bangladesh (e.g. NSDP, JIVITA, ICDDR,B, and Concern),

Nepal (e.g. Nepal Family Health Project ),

Pakistan (e.g. JSI),

Afghanistan (e.g. REACH -MSH),

Indonesia, Cambodia (e.g. CARE, RACHA, and RHAC),

East Timor (e.g. Health Alliance International),

Yemen, Egypt (TAHSEEN Project),

West Bank Gaza, and Jordan

Washington-based Collaborating Agencies with interests/components that could address community-based postpartum care on a wider scale in the region, provide targeted assistance to the bilateral partners, or that already have on-going projects with such components (e.g. ACCESS, HARP/JHU, CATALYST, BASICS, JHPEIGO, POPPHI, PATH/Health Tech, CORE)
USAID representatives in the region and USA, with interest in community-based postpartum care
WHO and UNICEF representatives in the regions with interest in community-based postpartum care

Allied members:

Representatives of other projects identified in the region that we could learn from and/or with whom we could build integrated community-based projects (e.g. SNL)
Other bilateral/multilateral donors who may be interested in taking lessons learned to scale, addressing operations research gaps, and/or who have such community-based projects on-going
Partnership alliances, such as with the White Ribbon Alliance, Healthy Newborn Partnership, Technical Group of the Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health Partnership
Professional alliances, such as the professional midwifery associations

Membership of MotherNewBorNet is initially open to organizations in the region having projects on,or are interested in community-based postpartum care for mother and newborn.