India

India has one of the highest numbers of maternal deaths in the world. Although the country has made significant progress in increasing the proportion of women who give birth in a health facility, maternal deaths are not decreasing as much as they should, largely due to poor quality of care. Among private maternity care providers, who offer up to 50% of maternity care services in India, there is no clear consensus on quality standards and no national accreditation program to assure quality maternity care.

Highlighted Investments

Manyata

The Manyata program established a quality certification for private maternity care and is supporting private providers to improve the quality of care they offer and apply for quality certification. The program is now active in 6 states (Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka) and over 600 private providers have achieved Manyata certification.

Collaborators
  • Jhpiego
  • FOGSI
  • Avalon
  • Ariadne Labs
  • Swasti

Together for Her Health

In collaboration with Avegen — and building on previous projects with The White Ribbon Alliance and M4ID — we have supported the development of a digital platform called Together for Her Health that helps women learn about the maternal health care they deserve and rate the services they receive. Quality ratings help private health providers deliver more woman-centered care and attract new patients. Overall, the Together platform empowers women to demand quality care and providers to be responsive to their patients’ needs.

Collaborators
  • Avegen

Utkrisht Impact Bond

Along with public and private sector collaborators — such as USAID UBS Optimus Foundation, Mathematica, and Palladium — we have launched a first-of-its-kind development impact bond that leverages private investor capital to incentivize private maternity providers in Rajasthan to improve the quality of care they deliver.

Collaborators
  • USAID
  • UBS Optimus Foundation
  • Mathematica
  • Palladium
  • Population Services International
  • HLFPPT

ASMAN

Through the Alliance for Saving Mothers and Newborns (ASMAN) we are working with Tata Trusts, the Reliance Foundation, USAID and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to improve the quality of maternity care offered in public facilities in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. By helping providers to digitally monitor patients during labor and delivery, ASMAN links providers to the Safe Delivery App for easy access to evidence-based and up-to-date clinical guidelines for maternity care.

Collaborators
  • Tata Trusts
  • The Reliance Foundation
  • USAID
  • The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation