Hospital care for mothers and newborn babies quality assessment and improvement tool

A systematic standard based participatory approach

Second Edition (2014)

This is the second edition of WHO Hospital care for mothers and newborn babies: quality assessment and improvement tool. The tool was updated during 2013 with the technical support of WHO Collaborating Centre in Mother and Child Health, Trieste, Italy, which developed the first version of the tool (2009). The update process included eight main steps:

1. review of main lessons learnt in the use of the tool since first developed
2. definition of guiding principles
3. systematic review of scientific sources to be used as reference standards
4. development of the first draft
5. field testing in hospitals in eastern Europe with both international and local assessors
6. development of the final version incorporating suggestions from the field testing
7. external review by a panel of international experts
8. tool finalization

Substantial changes were made in many chapters of this second edition (2014) compared to the first edition of the tool (2009) in order to update the tool in line with newer WHO guidelines and recommendations as well as with other international standards.

This tool and the process of using it can assist hospitals and health authorities towards providing quality health care to mothers and newborn babies. The tool adopts a participatory approach that facilitates wide involvement and sustained improvement of practice.