Evidence to Action for Strengthened Reproductive Health for Women and Girls (E2A) Nigeria Quarterly Report Second Quarter – April 01 to June 30, 2018

The program aims to increase the coverage and quality of maternal, neonatal, and reproductive health services, as well as improve delivery outcomes in public and faith-based health facilities across all 18 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Cross River State. The program is being implemented by Pathfinder International, with the Association of Grassroots Counsellors of Health and Development, Nigeria (AGCOD), Greater Hands Foundation (GHF), and Center for Health Works Development and Research Initiative (CHEDRES) as subcontractors. The program is implementing a model maternal, neonatal, and health (MNH) intervention that applies a systems approach to ensure that every pregnant woman has access to clean and safe normal delivery services and, in the event of an obstetric complication, life-saving emergency care within two hours of onset of complication. The model serves to strengthen existing health networks to address delays in seeking appropriate services, delays in reaching those services, and delays in receiving timely, quality care. The model also focuses attention on the most vulnerable period for mother and baby—labor, delivery, and the first 48 hours postpartum, which includes postpartum family planning (FP) provision. An additional component of the SMGL-EFP Initiative provides comprehensive FP services, with a focus on provision of Long-Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARCs), and targeting First Time Parents (FTPs), to deepen and enrich the initiative through services to attain statewide coverage, create demand for FP through engagement with community gatekeepers, while also strengthening Government of Nigeria's (GON) ownership and sustainability. By implementing the SMGL-EFP Initiative until September 30, 2019, E2A expects to reduce by 15 percent, maternal mortality ratio, and by 10 percent the neonatal mortality rate from the 2014 baseline values for Cross River State. In addition, it is expected to contribute to an increase in contraceptive prevalence and a reduction in unmet need in Cross River State. The SMGL-EFP Initiative is complemented by the Saving Mothers – A Total Market Approach project, which is also being implemented in Cross River State, Nigeria, over a four-year period till September 30, 2019. This project aims to increase access to, and quality of, comprehensive MNH by engaging private-for-profits (PFP) who support women through pregnancy and delivery. The project will also strengthen formal links between private and public providers and facilities to offer the women of Cross River, and their families, a total market response to addressing maternal and newborn health needs of the people. The combined objectives of the two components are to increase timely utilization of institutional delivery and family planning services by reducing social, economic, and geographic barriers to seeking care, improve the quality of maternity care and institutional delivery services, including EmONC and FP services, ensure women and their newborns are provided key FP/RH/MNH health services in an integrated manner, including the use of life-saving innovations and FP services, and improve linkages and referrals between private and public sector providers using a total market approach.