Networks of care for maternal and newborn health: Implementation guidance

Networks of care are an approach to strengthening primary care and maternal and newborn health services. The approach focuses on cultivating relationships among health system stakeholders and strengthening relational elements, such as multidisciplinary teamwork, leadership and communication. Networks of care exist in diverse contexts and geographies. The evidence demonstrated the effectiveness of networks of care in improving quality of care and clinical outcomes for women and newborns.

This document is the first implementation guidance on Networks of care. It provides a definition of Networks of care for maternal and newborn health and outlines the structural and relational elements that compose Networks of care. Next an overview of the evidence on Networks of care and examples of establishing Networks of care are provided. The following section focuses on the key aspect of Networks of care, the relational elements, and approaches to strengthening them. Financing, considerations for establishing and strengthening, and maintaining and sustaining Networks of care are covered in the subsequent sections. This implementation guidance concludes with areas for future research on Networks of care.