On Tuesday, May 25th from 4-5pm EAT (Nairobi), the East, Central, and Southern Africa Health Community and the University of California San Francisco co-led a webinar entitled: “Respectful Maternal Care: Are we trending in the right direction?” This webinar was the third in the Accelerating Evidence to Use in Policy and Programs: Strengthening & Sustaining RMNCAH Systems in Sub-Saharan Africa webinar series. The USAID HEARD Project’s implementation science partnership welcomed more than 300 people from 50+ countries across the globe for a dynamic conversation exploring evidence, experiences and perspectives on promising approaches and routine monitoring and evaluation for respectful maternal care (RMC) in Africa.

The webinar brought together esteemed speakers from the field of respectful care, including:

• Dr. Patience Afulani, Assistant Professor in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics & Obstetrics, Gynecology, & Reproductive Sciences Departments, University of California, San Francisco
• Dr. Chibugo Okoli, Deputy Country Director of Jhpiego Nigeria
• Lucy Chigwenembe, Chief Quality Management Officer at the Ministry of Health Malawi, South West Quality Management office
• Ziada Sellah, Director of Nursing and Midwifery Services at the Tanzania Ministry of Health, Community Development, Gender, Elderly and Children (MoHCDGEC)
• Ellie Feinglass, Director of the Right to health program & Co-director of NAMATI MOÇAMBIQUE
• Dr. Muna Abdullah, Health system specialist at ESA region UNFPA
• Dr. Nadia Diamon Smith, Assistant Professor in the Epidemiology and Biostatistics Department and Institute for Global Health Sciences at the University of California, San Francisco
• Ráz Stevenson, Senior Implementation Research Advisor for the Research and Policy Division at United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Dr. Emily Peca, Senior Implementation Scientist at the University Research Co., LLC

Speakers also participated in a panel discussion on routine measurement of respectful maternal care practices, identifying and adapting indicators to country context, and how COVID-19 has impacted respectful care. This important dialogue and other sections of the webinar can be viewed online at the Implementation Science Collaborative’s Youtube Channel. Click here to visit the ISC Youtube Channel and view the full webinar >