MCSP Laos Quarterly Report PY2 Annual Report– October1, 2015 to September 31, 2016

The program aimed to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care in Luang Prabang and Sayaboury provinces. MCSP Laos is a cooperative agreement between the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and Save the Children, with a budget of $1,500,000 for the second year of the program. The program's geographic coverage includes national-level coordination and provincial and district implementation in Luang Prabang and Sayaboury provinces. The reporting period for this quarterly report is October 1, 2015, to September 31, 2016. The total expenditure reported through June 2016 is $435,879, with an estimated expenditure of $173,866 for the third quarter (July-September 2016). The program's main objective is to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care by strengthening key skills for maternal and newborn care among MNH care providers, their educators, and their supervisors. To achieve this objective, MCSP supported a provincial-led committee to select a core group of Master Mentors based on validated criteria. The mentoring approach focuses on building on the mentee's existing skills in normal delivery, using anatomical models for guided simulations, and facilitating team and peer learning. The MOH, with support from MCSP, selected fifteen mentors, including senior midwives, obstetricians, and pediatricians from Luang Prabang and Sayaboury provinces to participate in an eight-day workshop to develop mentors to introduce the mentoring approach for quality improvement of MNH services. The workshop participants prioritized group-selected MNH clinical skills and activities to align with the Laos RMNCH strategy, Midwifery Improvement Plan, and the Early Essential Newborn Care (EENC) protocols. During the February workshop, the Master Mentors practiced the mentorship approach and skills in depth and agreed upon their roles and responsibilities. These responsibilities included emulating mentor skills and activities in their own workplaces to serve as role models and ensuring their own work sites reflect the standards of care set forth during the workshop. Additionally, MCSP introduced the Master Mentors to the WHO Quality of Care (QOC) framework and the quality improvement cycle, and the group developed the format for action plans to address gaps and follow up with providers and facilities. The program's implementation status is as follows: Objective 1, Improve the quality of maternal and newborn care in Luang Prabang and Sayaboury provinces by strengthening key skills for maternal and newborn care among MNH care providers, their educators, and their supervisors, has been achieved through the successful recruitment of key staff, the selection of Master Mentors, and the development of mentors to introduce the mentoring approach for quality improvement of MNH services. The program's highlights of activities and achievements include the introduction of meetings with provincial government to launch MCSP activities, the revision of the workplan with inputs from the provincial leadership, and the recruitment of MCSP Laos staff. The program also conducted a desk review of MoH strategies and PNPs to identify key activities and skills for capacity building and built consensus for targeting a set of prioritized activities/skills. The program's implementation progress is as follows: The second year of the program was very successful, with the MCSP team conducting three mentoring meetings and site visits, organizing two STTAs, participating in multiple key MoH meetings, finalizing the PMP, and conducting a mentor TOT to develop 8 Lao trainer mentors. The program also conducted a feasibility assessment with the Luang Prabang provincial hospital staff to assess the possibility of introducing a Quality Improvement (QI) initiative. The program's implementation progress is as follows: The program conducted a second capacity-building workshop, facilitated with HQ support, to train a cohort of eight mentors to be mentor trainers to improve quality of MNH services in MCSP-supported facilities. The program also supported trained-mentors and staff at a facility in Viengkham to conduct an additional mentoring visit to address skills in twin birth following a perinatal death