Advanced Evaluation of Maternal Mortality Reduction Strategies Training Course

Course Introduction

Maternal mortality remains a critical public health and health systems challenge, reflecting inequalities in access to quality maternal healthcare, delays in emergency treatment, shortages of skilled health professionals, and weaknesses in health service delivery. Reducing maternal deaths requires coordinated strategies that address antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric and newborn care, postpartum services, family planning, referral systems, and the social determinants of maternal health. The Advanced Evaluation of Maternal Mortality Reduction Strategies Training Course provides participants with advanced methods for assessing the effectiveness, implementation quality, equity, efficiency, and sustainability of maternal mortality reduction initiatives. Participants will learn how to generate credible evidence that supports national maternal health policies, improves programme performance, and strengthens accountability for maternal survival outcomes.

Maternal mortality reduction programmes frequently involve multiple interventions delivered across community health systems, primary healthcare facilities, referral hospitals, and national health programmes. These interventions may include expanding access to skilled birth attendance, strengthening emergency obstetric care, improving blood transfusion services, preventing and treating postpartum haemorrhage, managing hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, preventing maternal sepsis, and improving access to timely cesarean delivery when clinically indicated. Evaluating these interconnected interventions requires a clear understanding of their intended mechanisms, implementation arrangements, target populations, and relationships with broader health system reforms. This course equips participants with practical frameworks for examining how maternal health investments translate into improved service coverage, better quality of care, reduced delays, and measurable improvements in maternal outcomes.

Reliable maternal mortality evaluation depends on accurate data, clearly defined indicators, and appropriate analytical methods. Maternal deaths may be underreported, misclassified, or incompletely documented, particularly in settings where deaths occur outside health facilities or where civil registration and vital statistics systems are weak. Participants will examine maternal death surveillance and response systems, facility-based maternal death reviews, confidential enquiries, reproductive-age mortality studies, and other approaches for identifying and investigating maternal deaths. They will learn to assess data completeness, distinguish maternal deaths from pregnancy-related deaths where the available evidence permits, interpret maternal mortality ratios and related indicators, and evaluate the reliability of routine reporting systems. The course emphasizes the importance of triangulating multiple data sources and documenting uncertainty when comparing maternal health performance across locations and time periods.

Determining whether maternal mortality reduction strategies have produced meaningful improvements requires evaluation designs that account for changes in population characteristics, healthcare utilization, reporting practices, and broader social conditions. Improvements in maternal outcomes may be influenced by economic development, education, transport infrastructure, fertility patterns, nutrition, health financing, and concurrent health programmes. Participants will explore quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches, including interrupted time-series analysis, controlled before-and-after studies, longitudinal assessments, implementation research, and health systems evaluation. They will learn to assess intervention coverage, service readiness, quality of care, referral delays, and implementation fidelity while examining how these factors influence maternal outcomes. Particular emphasis will be placed on interpreting evidence responsibly, distinguishing association from causation, and identifying which programme components are contributing most effectively to improved maternal survival.

Equity and the quality of care are central to effective maternal mortality reduction. National improvements can conceal persistent disadvantages among rural populations, adolescents, women with disabilities, low-income households, displaced communities, and populations affected by conflict or geographic isolation. This course examines how evaluation frameworks can identify disparities in access to antenatal services, skilled delivery, emergency obstetric care, postpartum follow-up, and respectful maternity care. Participants will assess the influence of financial barriers, gender inequalities, cultural expectations, transportation constraints, workforce shortages, and facility readiness on maternal health outcomes. They will also explore economic evaluation, community participation, accountability mechanisms, and the integration of maternal health services into primary healthcare systems to determine whether interventions are affordable, accessible, acceptable, and sustainable.

Digital health platforms, geospatial analysis, clinical audit systems, and advanced analytics are creating new opportunities to evaluate maternal mortality reduction strategies. These tools can improve the identification of high-risk areas, monitor service availability, strengthen referral coordination, track maternal deaths, and support evidence-informed resource allocation. Participants will examine how routine health information systems, maternity registers, emergency obstetric records, civil registration systems, community surveillance, and population surveys can be integrated to improve evaluation quality. Emerging issues, including climate-related maternal health risks, humanitarian emergencies, respectful maternity care, digital referral systems, and responsible use of artificial intelligence, will also be addressed. By completing this course, participants will be equipped to design rigorous evaluations, interpret maternal health evidence, recommend targeted interventions, and strengthen monitoring systems that contribute to sustained reductions in preventable maternal deaths.

Duration

10 days

Who Should Attend

• Ministry of health officials responsible for maternal health policy, reproductive health strategies, health sector planning, and maternal mortality reduction programmes.

• Monitoring and evaluation specialists assessing maternal health interventions, programme outcomes, service coverage, implementation quality, and population health impact.

• Obstetricians, gynecologists, midwives, and maternal health clinicians involved in evaluating clinical interventions and quality improvement initiatives.

• Public health professionals coordinating maternal and reproductive health programmes across national, regional, district, and community health systems.

• Epidemiologists and health researchers analyzing maternal mortality trends, causes of maternal deaths, service utilization, and intervention effectiveness.

• Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response coordinators responsible for reviewing deaths, identifying avoidable factors, and monitoring corrective actions.

• Hospital administrators and maternity unit managers overseeing emergency obstetric services, referral systems, staffing, quality assurance, and maternal safety.

• Reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, and adolescent health programme managers responsible for integrated service delivery and performance monitoring.

• Health economists and financing specialists assessing the costs, affordability, efficiency, and sustainability of maternal mortality reduction interventions.

• Community health programme coordinators evaluating birth preparedness, antenatal attendance, skilled delivery, postpartum follow-up, and referral practices.

• Health information system managers responsible for maternal health indicators, maternity registers, routine reporting, and data quality improvement.

• Development partners and donor programme officers supporting maternal health investments, reproductive health initiatives, and health systems strengthening.

• Gender, equity, and social development specialists assessing barriers to maternal healthcare access and differences in intervention outcomes across populations.

• Researchers and academic professionals conducting maternal mortality studies, implementation science, health systems research, and programme impact evaluations.

• Consultants and technical advisers supporting maternal health strategy evaluation, programme reviews, health policy development, and evidence-based improvement planning.

Course Objectives

• Develop an advanced understanding of maternal mortality determinants, prevention strategies, and the evaluation principles required to assess maternal health programme effectiveness.

• Design comprehensive evaluation frameworks aligned with national maternal health policies, reproductive health strategies, universal health coverage objectives, and relevant global commitments.

• Develop theories of change and results frameworks connecting maternal health interventions with service coverage, quality of care, timely treatment, and maternal survival outcomes.

• Apply appropriate quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods evaluation designs to assess intervention effectiveness, implementation performance, and contextual influences.

• Evaluate maternal mortality indicators, maternal death surveillance systems, facility-based records, and population data for completeness, reliability, comparability, and appropriate interpretation.

• Assess the effectiveness of antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care, postpartum services, referral systems, and other maternal health interventions.

• Apply epidemiological and statistical methods to analyze maternal mortality trends, compare intervention outcomes, identify disparities, and interpret uncertainty responsibly.

• Evaluate maternal death surveillance and response systems to determine whether investigations, recommendations, and corrective actions are implemented and contribute to safer care.

• Conduct equity-focused assessments to identify barriers affecting rural women, adolescents, low-income populations, women with disabilities, and other underserved groups.

• Apply economic evaluation methods to assess programme costs, resource efficiency, cost-effectiveness, affordability, and the sustainability of maternal health investments.

• Integrate qualitative research, implementation science, and stakeholder participation to identify barriers to effective service delivery and explain variations in programme performance.

• Translate evaluation findings into actionable policy recommendations, quality improvement plans, performance dashboards, and sustainable strategies for preventing maternal deaths.

Comprehensive Course Outline

Module 1: Foundations of Maternal Mortality Reduction and Programme Evaluation

• Examine the epidemiology of maternal mortality, major causes of maternal deaths, and the clinical, social, economic, and health system factors influencing maternal survival.

• Review major maternal mortality reduction strategies, including antenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care, postpartum care, and reproductive health services.

• Distinguish programme monitoring, process evaluation, outcome evaluation, impact evaluation, implementation research, and economic evaluation in maternal health.

• Examine national maternal health strategies and relevant global frameworks, including Sustainable Development Goal target 3.1, to establish appropriate evaluation priorities.

Module 2: Theory of Change, Results Frameworks, and Evaluation Planning

• Develop theories of change explaining how maternal health interventions are expected to reduce preventable deaths through improved access, quality, timeliness, and continuity of care.

• Construct logical frameworks linking programme inputs, activities, service outputs, intermediate outcomes, and maternal survival impacts.

• Identify assumptions, external influences, contextual factors, and implementation dependencies that may affect maternal health programme performance.

• Formulate evaluation questions, stakeholder information needs, indicators, baseline requirements, and reporting arrangements for maternal mortality reduction initiatives.

Module 3: Maternal Mortality Indicators and Data Quality Assessment

• Define and interpret the maternal mortality ratio, maternal death counts, pregnancy-related mortality measures, and other relevant maternal health indicators.

• Assess data completeness, case classification, reporting consistency, denominator quality, timeliness, and representativeness across maternal health information sources.

• Examine the limitations of facility-based maternal mortality statistics and the implications of underreporting, misclassification, and deaths occurring outside health facilities.

• Develop data quality assurance procedures for maternal registers, routine health information systems, civil registration records, and population-based estimates.

Module 4: Maternal Death Surveillance, Review, and Response Evaluation

• Evaluate maternal death surveillance and response systems, including death identification, notification, investigation, review, recommendation development, and follow-up.

• Examine facility-based maternal death reviews, community-based reviews, confidential enquiries, and other appropriate methods for investigating maternal deaths.

• Assess the quality of death reviews, identification of avoidable factors, documentation of contributing circumstances, and formulation of actionable recommendations.

• Measure the implementation of corrective actions, institutional accountability, learning processes, and changes in clinical or organizational practices following maternal death reviews.

Module 5: Evaluation of Antenatal Care and Risk Identification

• Assess antenatal care coverage, timing of first attendance, continuity of visits, appropriate screening, risk identification, and access to essential preventive interventions.

• Evaluate screening and management pathways for hypertensive disorders, anemia, infections, nutritional risks, and other relevant maternal health conditions.

• Examine the quality of counseling, birth preparedness, danger-sign recognition, referral decisions, and communication between antenatal services and delivery facilities.

• Analyze barriers to antenatal attendance, including financial constraints, transport difficulties, social norms, service availability, and experiences of disrespectful care.

Module 6: Skilled Birth Attendance and Quality of Intrapartum Care

• Evaluate access to skilled birth attendance, facility delivery, maternity service readiness, clinical staffing, essential supplies, and appropriate referral arrangements.

• Assess the quality of intrapartum care, including labor monitoring, recognition of complications, timely escalation, infection prevention, and adherence to appropriate clinical protocols.

• Examine the availability and functionality of essential obstetric equipment, medicines, blood supplies, communication systems, and emergency response arrangements.

• Evaluate respectful maternity care, informed decision-making, privacy, communication, and the relationship between women's experiences and service utilization.

Module 7: Emergency Obstetric Care and Referral System Evaluation

• Assess the availability, geographic accessibility, readiness, and functionality of basic and comprehensive emergency obstetric care services.

• Evaluate referral pathways, transport availability, communication between facilities, transfer documentation, and delays in reaching appropriate treatment.

• Examine facility capacity to manage major obstetric emergencies, including severe bleeding, hypertensive emergencies, sepsis, and complications requiring urgent intervention.

• Measure referral completion, emergency response times, service readiness, treatment timeliness, and system-level barriers affecting maternal survival.

Module 8: Postpartum Care and Prevention of Maternal Complications

• Evaluate postpartum service coverage, early assessment, follow-up arrangements, counseling, and recognition of complications following childbirth.

• Assess interventions addressing postpartum hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, infection, thromboembolic complications, and relevant mental health needs.

• Examine continuity between delivery services, postnatal care, primary healthcare, family planning, and community-based follow-up.

• Identify barriers to postpartum attendance, early discharge follow-up, danger-sign recognition, and timely access to emergency services after childbirth.

Module 9: Evaluation Design, Epidemiological Analysis, and Causal Attribution

• Compare cohort studies, controlled before-and-after evaluations, interrupted time-series analysis, difference-in-differences approaches, and other suitable designs.

• Develop sampling strategies, comparison groups, baseline periods, follow-up intervals, and analysis plans appropriate to the intervention and available data.

• Apply descriptive statistics, regression analysis, trend analysis, and uncertainty assessment to examine changes in maternal mortality and related outcomes.

• Address confounding, changes in reporting, population differences, concurrent interventions, and other factors that may limit attribution of outcomes to specific programmes.

Module 10: Qualitative Evaluation and Implementation Science

• Design interviews, focus group discussions, facility observations, and document reviews to understand implementation processes and stakeholder experiences.

• Apply thematic analysis and implementation science frameworks to identify barriers and facilitators affecting maternal health interventions.

• Examine the influence of clinical leadership, staff workload, institutional culture, supervision, training, and resource availability on programme performance.

• Integrate qualitative evidence with quantitative findings to explain differences between facilities, communities, and population groups.

Module 11: Maternal Health Workforce and Facility Readiness Assessment

• Evaluate the availability, distribution, competence, and workload of midwives, obstetric clinicians, anesthetic personnel, and other essential maternity care staff.

• Assess facility readiness in relation to staffing, essential medicines, equipment, blood transfusion services, electricity, water, sanitation, and referral capacity.

• Examine workforce training, clinical mentorship, emergency drills, supportive supervision, and quality improvement systems relevant to maternal safety.

• Analyze how workforce shortages, absenteeism, skill mix, staff turnover, and infrastructure limitations influence maternal service quality and emergency response.

Module 12: Equity, Social Determinants, and Community Engagement

• Evaluate differences in maternal health service access and outcomes across socioeconomic groups, geographic locations, age groups, disability status, and other relevant characteristics.

• Examine how poverty, education, transport, food security, gender inequality, cultural expectations, and decision-making autonomy influence maternal health outcomes.

• Assess community interventions involving birth preparedness, community health workers, local referral networks, family engagement, and maternal health awareness.

• Develop equity-focused evaluation approaches that identify underserved populations and recommend accessible, culturally appropriate, and non-discriminatory services.

Module 13: Health Economics and Financing of Maternal Mortality Reduction

• Identify programme costs associated with antenatal services, emergency obstetric care, workforce development, transport, blood services, referral systems, and maternal death surveillance.

• Apply cost analysis, budget impact assessment, cost-effectiveness analysis, and other appropriate economic evaluation methods to maternal health interventions.

• Examine the financial barriers experienced by women and households, including transport costs, user charges, informal payments, and other out-of-pocket expenses.

• Assess fiscal sustainability, resource allocation, opportunity costs, and the affordability of scaling interventions that demonstrate meaningful maternal health benefits.

Module 14: Digital Health, Geospatial Analysis, and Maternal Health Intelligence

• Evaluate the use of electronic maternity records, digital referral platforms, maternal death reporting systems, dashboards, and mobile health tools.

• Apply geospatial analysis to identify underserved areas, travel-time barriers, referral bottlenecks, and gaps in emergency obstetric service coverage.

• Examine data integration across facility records, civil registration systems, community reporting, and routine health information platforms.

• Assess data privacy, system interoperability, data completeness, digital access inequalities, and responsible use of analytics in maternal health decision-making.

Module 15: Policy Governance, Sustainability, and Emerging Maternal Health Priorities

• Evaluate policy implementation arrangements, institutional responsibilities, financing commitments, coordination mechanisms, and accountability for maternal mortality reduction.

• Examine the integration of maternal health interventions into primary healthcare, universal health coverage strategies, referral networks, and broader health system reforms.

• Assess emerging challenges involving climate-related health risks, humanitarian emergencies, displacement, fragile health systems, and disruptions to essential maternity services.

• Develop sustainability frameworks addressing workforce capacity, domestic financing, institutional learning, community participation, and continued implementation of evidence-based interventions.

Module 16: Integrated Evaluation Practicum and Evidence-to-Action Planning

• Develop a comprehensive evaluation protocol for a maternal mortality reduction strategy, including objectives, evaluation questions, indicators, methods, data sources, and ethical safeguards.

• Analyze a simulated dataset combining maternal deaths, service coverage, facility readiness, referral performance, and maternal death review findings.

• Prepare an evaluation report that presents findings, limitations, equity considerations, implementation lessons, and prioritized recommendations for improving maternal outcomes.

• Develop an evidence-to-action plan identifying responsible stakeholders, resource requirements, implementation milestones, performance targets, and follow-up monitoring mechanisms.

Training Approach

This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.

Tailor-Made Course

This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808

Training Venue 

The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.

Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant

Certification

Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.

Airport Pickup and Accommodation

Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808

Terms of Payment:

Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.