article · Healthcare
Maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality remain urgent challenges in Tanzania. A study evaluated changes in health facility readiness following the rollout of the Safer Births Bundle of Care package across five regions. Researchers evaluated 28 comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care facilities between December 2020 and January 2023. Using an adapted World Health Organization assessment tool, the evaluation measured amenities, equipment, staff, clinical guidelines, medicines, and diagnostics. Overall readiness scores increased significantly from 67.6 percent to 83.7 percent. The largest improvements occurred in medical equipment, diagnostic and treatment commodities, and the availability of clinical guidelines, with statistically significant progress noted in district hospitals and health centres. Conversely, improvements in basic amenities were not statistically significant, and staffing levels slightly declined, showing that human resource deficits persist despite material gains.
High maternal and neonatal death rates often stem from health centres lacking essential tools and knowledge. Demonstrating that a structured intervention package improves equipment availability, diagnostic capacity, and clinical guidelines gives health authorities clear evidence on how to upgrade care systems. It also reveals persistent barriers, particularly in workforce staffing, that must be addressed to ensure lasting improvements.
This research evaluates an applied, real-world operational health package deployed across 28 public health facilities. It offers evidence for healthcare planners, public health authorities, and programme implementers seeking verified intervention packages to standardise clinical care. While the abstract describes a health system implementation rather than a commercial product, the demonstrated readiness improvements support broader procurement of essential medical equipment and structured clinical guideline materials.
AI-generated from the published abstract. Always read the original work before citing.
Background: Maternal and newborn morbidity and mortality remain a pressing challenge with uneven progress globally and in Tanzania. The capacity of health facilities to provide quality care is critical to improving outcomes. This study aimed to assess changes in health facilities’ readiness to provide quality maternal and newborn care, and hence aimed to inform improvements in quality-of-care interventions in Tanzania. Methods: A before and after assessment of 28 comprehensive emergency obstetric and newborn care health facilities implementing the Safer Births Bundle of Care package in five regions of Tanzania was carried out in December 2020 and January 2023. We adapted the World Health Organization’s Service Availability and Readiness Assessment tool, which covered amenities, equipment, staff, guidelines, medicines, and diagnostic facilities. Composite readiness scores were calculated for each category and results were compared at the health facility level. For categorical variables, we tested for differences by Fisher’s exact test; for readiness scores, differences were tested by linear fixed and mixed model analyses, considering dependencies within the regions. We used p < 0.05 as our level of significance and measured change from baseline using a paired t-test. Results: The overall readiness improved significantly from 67.6% to 83.7% (p < 0.05). Statistically significant improvements were seen in medical equipment (77.1% to 94.0%), diagnostic/treatment commodities (69.3% to 83.1%), and availability of guidelines (50.8% to 96.7%). Changes in amenities (78.1% to 84.2%) and staff (63.0% to 61.7%) were not significant. The overall readiness improved in all facility types and the change was statistically significant in district hospitals and health centres (p < 0.05). There were significant differences in improvement between regions (p < 0.05) Conclusions: The overall readiness has improved significantly, reflecting a positive change. However, there remains a need for further enhancement, particularly in terms of staffing, to ensure high-quality maternal and newborn care. Authorities should take swift action to address the identified gaps, selecting the most effective and practical interventions while closely monitoring progress in readiness and sustaining the gains.
This page summarises published work. The authoritative version sits with the publisher.
DOI: 10.3390/healthcare13233060
Is something wrong with this record? Report it or request removal.
Discussion
Have you built on this work, tried to replicate it, or seen it applied in practice? Share what you know. Verified researchers and MARATTO™ domain experts can open a discussion, and any member can reply. Contributions are reviewed before they appear.
No discussion yet. Open the first thread.
New to MARATTO™? Create a free account.
