Monitoring healthcare improvement for mothers and newborns: A quantitative review of WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA standards using Every Mother Every Newborn assessment tools

BACKGROUND: Assessment tools with the ability to capture WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA standard quality-of-care measures are needed. This study aimed to assess the ability of Every Mother Every Newborn (EMEN) tools to capture WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA maternal and newborn quality improvement standard indicators. METHODS: A quantitative study using the EMEN quality assessment framework was applied. The six EMEN tools were compared with the WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA maternal and newborn quality improvement standards. Descriptive statistics analysis was carried out with summaries using tables and figures. RESULTS: Overall, across all EMEN tools, 100% (164 of 164) input, 94% (103 of 110) output, and 97% (76 of 78) outcome measures were assessed. Standard 2 measures, i.e., actionable information systems, were 100% (17 of 17) completely assessed by the management interview, with 72% to 96% of standard 4–6 measures, i.e., client experiences of care, fulfilled by an exit interview tool. CONCLUSION: The EMEN tools can reasonably measure WHO/UNICEF/UNFPA quality standards. There was a high capacity of the tools to capture enabling policy environment and experiences of care measures not covered in other available tools which are used to measure the quality of care.