Measuring Coverage in MNCH: Testing the Validity of Women’s Self-Report of Key Maternal and Newborn Health Interventions during the Peripartum Period in Mozambique

Author: Cynthia Stanton (Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health), Barbara Rawlins (MCHIP), Mary Drake (MCHIP), Matias dos Anjos (MCHIP), David Cantor (MCHIP), Lidia Chongo (Mozambique Ministry of Health), Leonardo Chavane (MCHIP), Maria da Luz Vaz (MCHIP) and Jim Ricca (MCHIP)
Language: English

Despite a growing need to track coverage and quality of high-impact peripartum interventions, currently, nationally representative household surveys conducted in low-income settings primarily measure contact with the health system, shedding little light on content or quality of care. This article describes a study to validate the ability of women in Mozambique to report on facility-based care they and their newborns received during labor and up to one hour postpartum.

The study involved 304 household interviews with women in Mozambique whose births were observed eight to ten months previously as part of a survey of the quality of maternal and newborn care at government health facilities. Upon testing the validity of 34 indicators, the authors concluded that women are able to report on some aspects of peripartum care, and recommend 13 indictors that should be included in routine or in-depth maternal/newborn health surveys.

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