Immediate action needed – for better maternal and newborn healthcare
Individual delivery rooms and neonatal resuscitation training among the top priorities
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PODGORICA, 26 February 2024 – Better protection for expectant mothers, strengthening the knowledge and skills of healthcare workers in the field of maternal and newborn care, and improved conditions in institutions, such as individual delivery rooms, are some of the recommendations outlined in the Report on the Assessment of the Quality of Maternal and Newborn Care in Montenegro.
In order to achieve this, the state must take concrete steps, emphasized the UNICEF Representative to Montenegro, Juan Santander
To improve the quality of care for all mothers and babies as soon as possible and in line with international standards, the government and the Ministry of Health need to translate the recommendations of this analysis into an action plan with clear activities, budgets, and deadlines.
Santander added that UNICEF will support the Ministry of Health in implementing the recommendations. This includes organizing urgent training on neonatal resuscitation, one of the key recommendations to be implemented as soon as possible in all institutions.
Minister of Health Dr Vojislav Simun emphasized that safe deliveries are crucial for the health and wellbeing of both women and newborns.
“This implies effective clinical management, but also respect for patients’ rights at this important moment in life, for both the individual, primarily the mother, and then the newborn, the entire family, and more broadly, the community and society as a whole,” Minister Simun said.
He acknowledged the improvements compared to previous assessments, but also admitted that crucial areas need further enhancement: “As someone who has dedicated and tied his professional calling to what is, I can safely say, the most beautiful part of healthcare, I promise that I will continue to work diligently to improve the quality of healthcare for mothers and newborns as a decision maker.”
The minister stated that Montenegro’s Healthcare Development Strategy 2023–2027 envisages work on establishing an operational quality control system, which implies both the improvement of databases and their use.
Maternal care is important also from the aspect of supporting optimal early childhood development. Therefore, the Early Childhood Development Strategy envisages a series of activities related to improving the healthcare of future mothers, strengthening the knowledge and skills of healthcare workers in the field of maternal and newborn care, and improving the infrastructure of institutions, including the availability of individual delivery rooms.
Minister Simun underlined his belief that this report will serve as a sound basis and starting point for implementing all the “advanced practices known to modern medicine that we can apply in our conditions”.
This marks the third assessment of the quality of maternal and newborn care in Montenegro conducted by the Ministry of Health in cooperation with UNICEF and with the expert assistance of the CURATIO International Foundation. The primary task is to propose priority activities to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care at the institutional and national levels.
The assessment was conducted by three international consultants and a team of 16 national co-assessors selected by the Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Clinical Centre of Montenegro and with the support of UNICEF.