An action plan to assess the current situation of maternal & newborn care at government health facilities in Jharkhand, India

Maternal and child health care especially safe motherhood services are an important factor in the primary health care and are the responsibility of the government and ministry of health. Consolidating and strengthening health network and quality of primary health care is one of the priority issues of the state and the health department for providing good health care and protection to the population. Since, long government health facilities, in spite of being the main source of health care services for majority of people, especially for those having low income; has very poor condition. Therefore, it’s important to improve the quality of services in the government facility, which can be achieved by stressing on the context of care provided. Situational analyses or facility audit are tools which use various approaches to identify the gaps in the structure and Process of the facility, in order to determine the best intervention to improve the performance. This study proposes an ‘Action Plan’ to assess the current quality of care in Govt health facilities in Ranchi, Jharkhand concerning Maternal and newborn care. By using Qualitative and quantitative study Methods like Site assessment, exit interview and focused group discussion. The method aims to identify together with major gaps; the entire minor gaps in the health system responsible for maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity that could be solved at the local level without the involvement of additional resources. The results obtained could be used to frame interventions to strengthen Maternal and newborn care system of Jharkhand.