Evaluating Saving Lives at Birth Annual Report

The program aims to assess the impact of SL@B on sourcing, supporting the development of, and scaling promising innovations in maternal and newborn health (MNH). The evaluation has five primary objectives: to assess the role of SL@B in addressing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity through a landscape and gap analysis of the SL@B portfolio; to retrospectively evaluate SL@B to assess its contribution to the field of MNH over time; to prospectively evaluate SL@B to assess the potential impact of SL@B grantees; to evaluate the economic impact of SL@B at individual and portfolio levels; and to share learnings from the evaluation. During the first year of the project, the team made significant progress in each of the evaluation workstreams. The portfolio and landscape analysis was iterated upon multiple times in response to feedback from the SL@B funding partners. The team plans to provide more detail on Year One findings and explore one or two priority areas in depth in Year Two. The retrospective evaluation workstream made great strides in the first year, with a large number of key informant interviews (KIIs) conducted and considerable data analysis. The team has planned to conduct a quantitative survey around innovator trajectories in Year Two to fill gaps from the document and qualitative interviews. The prospective evaluation design was completed in the first year, with plans to move heavily into this workstream in Year Two. The KIIs conducted with innovators have helped shape the prospective evaluation design and informed what kind of data collection will be feasible to measure the objective impact of SL@B. The economic modeling workstream focused on reviews of innovator reports and budget documents to better understand the context and expenditures of SL@B funded innovations. By the end of the first year, the team was able to design an impact modeling strategy (T-scale grantees, cost data collection options) and start exploring existing tools. The Evaluating SL@B program activities are organized into eight components: program management; program start-up; data access; portfolio analysis; retrospective evaluation; prospective evaluation; economic and social modeling; and sharing of learnings. The team has made significant progress in each of these workstreams, with learnings from the first year informing plans for Year Two. The program has a strong focus on maternal and newborn health, with a goal of reducing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity. The evaluation will assess the impact of SL@B on sourcing, supporting the development of, and scaling promising innovations in MNH. The program is designed to be a collaborative effort between the Duke Global Health Institute's Evidence Lab and the Duke Global Health Innovation Center. The Evaluating SL@B program has a strong focus on economic and social modeling, with a goal of evaluating the economic impact of SL@B at individual and portfolio levels. The team has made significant progress in this workstream, with a focus on reviews of innovator reports and budget documents to better understand the context and expenditures of SL@B funded innovations. The program has a strong focus on sharing learnings, with a goal of disseminating the findings of the evaluation to the larger MNH and funding ecosystem. The team plans to develop an external version of the funding landscape analysis in Year Two to share with the larger MNH and funding ecosystem. The Evaluating SL@B program has a strong focus on prospective evaluation, with a goal of assessing the potential impact of SL@B grantees. The team has completed the prospective evaluation design and plans to move heavily into this workstream in Year Two. The program has a strong focus on retrospective evaluation, with a goal of assessing the contribution of SL@B to the field of MNH over time. The team has made great strides in this workstream, with a large number of KIIs conducted and considerable data analysis. The Evaluating SL@B program has a strong focus on portfolio analysis, with a goal of assessing the role of SL@B in addressing maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity through a landscape and gap analysis of the SL@B portfolio. The team has made significant progress in this workstream, with a focus on providing more detail on Year One findings and exploring one or two priority areas in depth in Year Two. The program has a strong focus on program management, with a goal of ensuring the effective management of the evaluation. The team has made significant progress in this workstream, with a focus on ensuring the effective management of the evaluation and informing plans for Year Two. The Evaluating SL@B program has a strong focus on data access, with a goal of ensuring access to data for the evaluation. The team has made significant progress in this workstream, with a focus on ensuring access to data for the evaluation and informing plans for Year Two. The program has a strong focus on program start-up, with a goal of ensuring the effective start-up of the evaluation. The team