How can the quality of care for pregnant women be improved by local health entities?

Sinergias, Strategic Alliances for Health and Social Development, executed from 2012 to 2015, hand in hand with Unicef, the Colombian Presidential Cooperation Agency and Merck's MSD program for mothers, a project to improve the quality of care for pregnant women and newborns in which 36 municipalities in 4 departments of the country, (Bolivar, Cauca, Cordoba and La Guajira) benefited.

The organization developed a special methodology that in 36 months obtained favorable results in most of the territorial entities where the project was carried out. Using a systemic approach, they worked hand in hand with the health secretariats to identify maternal and infant needs and thus carry out improvement plans with high quality standards. To this end, Sinergias conducted periodic evaluations of prenatal care, childbirth, and growth and development services; it also trained health care and administrative personnel in the most serious deficiencies that were found.

In 36 months they were able to review 19,460 medical records, train 6,837 professionals and provide 637 technical assistance services. The experience was a success due to the flexibility of the model used by Sinergias in the project.

“We understood that each territory has its own particularities, not only in terms of the sociocultural, economic, demographic and epidemiological environment, but also in the way the people who work in the health entities act and conceive the problems,” says Pablo Montoya, director of Sinergias.

The project consisted of three phases: the first focused on the development of processes at the municipal level; the second, directed actions to strengthen maternal and child care in the institutions; and the third had to do with the implementation of the strategy in other municipalities prioritized by the territorial health directorates.

The results varied by year, but it is noteworthy that in 2014 the territorial entities developed 19 of the 23 activities aimed at strengthening the provision of services for pregnant women; in addition, there were also favorable changes in the care of children's growth and development, with a positive impact on quality.

The project is further evidence that Sinergias' systemic approach can have a positive impact on the quality of maternal and child health care. “Articulating the actors of the General Social Security Health System so that they work together and take responsibility and work together, focusing their actions on achieving timely and quality care for mothers and children was a great satisfaction for Sinergias,” adds Montoya.