Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health

Women’s, Children’s, and Adolescents’ Health

By training health workers to provide the self-injectable contraceptive Sayana Press MSH is increasing access to FP for many hard to reach populations in Malawi

Ensuring Availability and Accessibility of Quality Family Planning Services

Through the ONSE Health Activity, we supported Malawi’s Ministry of Health and Population in expediting the scale-up of Sayana Press, a new model of long-acting contraceptive protection for women and youth, in all districts. Using supportive supervision in 19 facilities, we provided on-the-job mentorship, joint problem solving, and communication training to build the competencies of health workers to provide Sayana Press across communities, helping to ensure the availability and accessibility of quality family planning services in hard-to-reach areas.

Building Better Health Behaviors and Services

The world loses nearly 300,000 women and more than 5 million young children each year to preventable causes. Providing quality health care to a woman, child, or adolescent requires a strong health system. A fundamental component of achieving high-quality primary health care is our focus on person-centered care, which aims to align clinical decisions with the preferences, needs, and values of women and their families to empower people to take charge of their own health and seek lifesaving health services. This approach builds trust in health systems; improves the responsiveness, quality, equity, and experience of care; and improves health outcomes. We work with local partners and communities to strengthen skills, policies, and practices that bring lasting change in the demand for and the availability and quality of health services. We actively engage women, children, and adolescents in the design and implementation of culturally respectful interventions that meet their needs and ensure good health throughout their lifetime. 

Our work:

  • Improves the competencies of health care workers 
  • Employs positive youth development approaches
  • Delivers essential services and quality standards across the continuum of care
  • Brings lifesaving maternal and child health innovations to scale
  • Offers peer support before, during, and after pregnancy

Maternal, Newborn, Child, and Adolescent Health Fact Sheet

Despite significant progress, many women, newborns, children, and adolescents across the globe still do not receive quality, respectful, and responsive care. Each year, there are an estimated 4.5 million maternal and newborn deaths and stillbirths globally due to preventable causes. Most maternal and child deaths and disability occur in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. Providing quality health care requires a complex web of organizations, individuals, processes, and actions that make up a health system. Expanding access to and use of integrated, equitable, high-quality, and people-centered health services at all levels of the health system is core to our work at MSH.

Guardians on Duty: Meet the Midwives Making a Difference for Afghan Mothers

Even in the most remote areas, midwives have long played a critical role as trusted providers of primary health care in Afghanistan. Building on more than four decades of experience in the country, Management Sciences for Health (MSH) works closely with the midwives as key partners in upholding quality of care for women and newborns.