Abstract
The Saving Lives at Birth (SL@B) funding partners joined in 2011 to source, support, and scale maternal and newborn health (MNH) innovations to improve maternal and newborn survival by focusing on the 24 hours around the time of birth. A multi-methods, retrospective portfolio evaluation was conducted to determine SL@B’s impact. Forty semi-structured, key informant interviews (KIIs) were conducted with experts in global MNH based in low- and middle-income and in high-income countries to assess the SL@B program. KIIs were conducted with global MNH technical experts, innovators, government officials in low- and middle-income countries, donors, private investors, and implementing partners to include the full spectrum of voices involved in identifying and scaling innovations. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Stakeholders believe the SL@B program has been successful in changing the way maternal and newborn health programs are delivered with a focus on doing things differently through innovation. The open approach to sourcing innovation was seen as positive to the extent that it brought more interdisciplinary stakeholders to think about the problem of maternal and newborn survival. However, a demand-driven approach that aims to source innovations that address MNH priority needs and takes into account the needs of end users (e.g. individuals and governments) was suggested as a strategy for ensuring that more innovations go to scale.
Highlights
Progress on reducing maternal and newborn mortality has been inadequate
This paper is comprised of a deep dive analysis where we present the results of in-depth qualitative interviews with a wide array of stakeholders and end users of innovations including global maternal and newborn health (MNH) technical experts, MNH donors and private investors, implementing partners, Saving Lives at Birth (SL@B) innovators, and government representatives in countries where SL@B innovations have been tested and/or implemented
All low- and middleincome country (LMIC) key informant (KI) were nationals and working in the country they represent, only one high-income countries (HICs) national was an American working in an LMIC, and global MNH experts who reside primarily in HICs and represent HIC institutions were classified as HIC KIs
Summary
Progress on reducing maternal and newborn mortality has been inadequate. Far too many women and newborns die in the 24 hours around birth, the majority in low- and middleincome country (LMIC) settings [1,2,3]. There is a growing realization in the maternal and newborn health (MNH) space that achieving equity will require doing things differently. Improving global maternal and newborn survival via innovation
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