"Monitoring emergency obstetric care: a handbook was prepared by Deborah Maine (Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, United States of America, and the Averting Maternal Death and Disability Program (AMDD), Mailman School of Public Health, Columbia University, New York City, New York, United States), Patsy Bailey (Family Health International, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, United States, and AMDD), Samantha Lobis (AMDD) and Judith Fortney (AMDD)." - p. v

"In 1991, UNICEF asked Columbia University (New York City, New York, United States of America) to design a new set of indicators for EmOC. The first version was tested in 1992. In 1997, the indicators were published as Guidelines for monitoring the availability and use of obstetric services, issued by UNICEF, WHO and UNFPA. These indicators have been used by ministries of health, international agencies and programme managers in over 50 countries around the world. In June 2006, an international panel of experts participated in a technical consultation in Geneva to discuss modifications to the existing indicators for EmOC and revisions to the Guidelines, taking into account the accumulated experience and increased knowledge in the area of maternal health care. The present handbook contains the agreed changes, including two new indicators and an additional signal function, with updated evidence and new resources. In addition, the Guidelines were renamed as the Handbook, to emphasize the practical purpose of this publication." - p. vii

"The handbook is based on the publication Guidelines for monitoring the availability and use of obstetric services (1997)."

Includes bibliographical references (p. 54-59).

1. Introduction -- 2. Indicators for EmOC -- 3. Collecting data for the indicators -- Appendix A: Forms and worksheets for data collection and calculation of EmOC indicators -- Appendix B: Information on registers and data collection -- Appendix C: Random number table

"The original targets for these Goals were a two-thirds reduction in the mortality of children under 5 and a three-quarters reduction in the maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2015. There is worldwide consensus that, in order to reach these targets, good-quality essential services must be integrated into strong health systems. The addition in 2007 of a new target in Goal 5--universal access to reproductive health by 2015--reinforces this consensus: all people should have access to essential maternal, newborn, child and reproductive health services provided in a continuum of care. In order to reduce maternal mortality, Emergency Obstetric Care (EmOC) must be available and accessible to all women. While all aspects of reproductive health care including family planning and delivery with the help of a skilled health professional also plays an important role in reducing maternal and neonatal mortality, this handbook focuses on the critical role of EmOC in saving the lives of women with obstetric complications during pregnancy and childbirth and saving the lives of newborns intrapartum. The handbook describes indicators that can be used to assess, monitor and evaluate the availability, use and quality of EmOC." - p. vi

This handbook describes indicators that can be used to assess, monitor and evaluate the availability, use and quality of Emergency Obstetric Care. These emergency obstetric care indicators can be used to measure progress in a programmatic continuum: from the availability of and access to emergency obstetric care to the use and quality of those services.

Also available via the World Wide Web as an Acrobat .pdf file (1.86 MB, 164 p.)