Every year, an estimated 303,000 women die due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, 2.6 million babies are stillborn, and 2.7 million newborn babies die. Most of these deaths can be prevented if effective, good quality care is available.
The Centre for Maternal and Newborn Health (CMNH) is an internationally recognised Centre of Excellence conducting research, teaching and technical assistance. CMNH’s vision is: “To end preventable maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and improve the health of mothers and babies in low- and middle-income countries.”
CMNH conducts implementation research, to discover and share what, why, and how interventions work in ‘real life’ settings, to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality and stillbirths, and, to improve health and healthcare delivery. They work to strengthen existing data collection methods, the use of data, and, they develop new indicators and frameworks to evaluate the effectiveness of single or complex interventions.
Between 2018 and 2023, their strategic objectives are to:
- Grow as a global leader in implementation research for maternal and newborn health.
- Discover and develop evidence-based, scale-able methodologies and approaches to improve the availability and quality of healthcare for mothers and babies during and after pregnancy such that this meets their identified health needs, results in improved health outcomes, and, a positive experience of that care.
- Ensure that new knowledge and evidence generated is shared, used to inform policy and practice, and, informs the global agenda for maternal and newborn health.
- Expand and develop their partnerships with governments, research institutions and global agencies to implement effective sustainable healthcare interventions and programmes.
- Ensure CMNH has a ‘first class’ operating environment, and, is the ‘go to’ partner for implementation research in maternal and newborn health.
The CMNH team is multidisciplinary, comprising more than 75 staff. In 2018, CMNH worked in partnership with 36 partners across 18 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia and Europe. CMNH’s portfolio includes 18 live programmes, with grants from 12 donors totalling more than £15 million.