Improving the quality of care for pregnant women and children

Improvement of the quality of care for pregnant women and children in their first 1,000 days in 26 municipalities.

This line of work was carried out within the framework of the national strategy “From Zero to Forever”, in municipalities prioritized based on the evaluation of 12 indicators on the situation of children and adolescents. The 10 municipalities selected belong to the departments of Bolivar, Cauca, Cordoba and La Guajira. The project had the following innovative components: 1) systemic approach based on felt needs, based on the recognition that all the actors of the General Health Security System (SGSSS) responsible for the care of pregnant women and children are a single system that is grouped around a single goal: the welfare of the mother-child binomial; 2) constant field accompaniment and permanent technical assistance with regular meetings. The project contemplates a person (nurse) with work experience in the municipality who permanently accompanies the implementation of the improvement actions, acting as a communication link between actors; 3) periodic feedback of findings as input for adjustments in the field: monthly or bimonthly follow-up meetings of the improvement plan in which the different actors evaluate the progress and difficulties that have arisen and present alternatives for adjustment so that the actions that had been jointly established can be carried out. The quality of maternal and child care was evaluated on a regular basis, which included: (a) review of clinical histories of prenatal control, delivery care and growth and development consultation, (b) satisfaction surveys (every six months) of pregnant women, puerperal women and caregivers of girls and boys aged 2 years or younger who attend the respective consultations, evaluating their perception of the quality of care; (c) checklist in the IPSs that perform prenatal consultation, delivery care and growth and development consultations, evaluating whether they have the minimum equipment and supplies necessary for the provision of such services.