Standards for improving quality of maternal and newborn care in health facilities

Despite significant progress in increasing facility-based childbirths over the past two decades, maternal and neonatal mortality and stillbirth rates remain unacceptably high, largely driven by poor quality of care. To eliminate preventable maternal and newborn deaths, the WHO has established a comprehensive framework and set of standards focusing on the critical window around childbirth and the early postnatal period.

The WHO quality of care framework encompasses eight core domains divided into two primary dimensions: the provision of care (evidence-based practices, actionable information systems, and functional referral systems) and the experience of care (effective communication, respect and dignity, and emotional support), underpinned by cross-cutting elements of competent human resources and essential physical resources.

To operationalize this vision, WHO formulated 8 standards of care and 31 specific quality statements accompanied by rigorously vetted input, output/process, and outcome measures derived through global expert consensus (including a Delphi process across 46 countries). These standards serve as normative benchmarks. They are designed for health facility leaders, policymakers, planners, and managers to systematically assess gaps, guide clinical training, monitor performance, and drive continuous quality improvement to ensure that every woman and newborn receives high-quality, respectful, and evidence-based care