Purpose of consultancy:

Sri Lanka has reduced maternal mortality (33.05 per 100,000 live births) by the year 2022. Regionally Sri Lanka has reported outstanding achievement in maternal mortality reduction. However, since the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target for 2030 is set at 16 /100,000 live births, further reduction is mandatory. Being a low mortality setting with a low reduction rate, further reduction needs more focused interventions. As a new initiative, Confidential Enquiry into Maternal Deaths (CEMD) has been introduced to the existing surveillance system as a pilot project to expedite the review process with more detailed information collection. This new process requires continuous follow up of information collection and case scenario preparation.

This process needs expert support to conduct pre analysis of all records and confidential formats, case categorization and allocation of assessors. Further the process of conducting the CEMD meetings and compilation of the final report needs to be supported by a team consisting of senior VOGs who have the technical capacity. Conducting training programs to introduce the CEMD system also needs to be carried out when the system is scaled up to the entire country. The quality and the effectiveness of the review process depends on the timely and complete information gathering and the quality of the available information alongside a comprehensive case review mechanism while maintaining strict confidentiality.

The CEMD process needs a careful and in depth pre-analysis of all documents related to all maternal deaths. The process needs to be carried out with a team of two senior Obstetricians and Gynecologists together with Consultant community physicians of the FHB. The same team will be responsible for presenting and facilitating the Expert panel discussion and also developing the final report. The careful analysis of all documents related to technical issues need to be based on discussion and agreement. For this purpose, UNFPA is hiring two senior consultants for this activity.

Scope of work: (Description of services, activities, or outputs)

The two consultant VOGs will support the National Program Manager in the process of CEMD by
1. Supervise and provide technical support in case categorization and information gathering related to maternal deaths.
2. Provide technical support in conducting the pre-review process by analyzing the records and the confidential formats.
3. Provide technical guidance in the process of allocating the team of assessors for each maternal death.
4. Provide technical guidance and support for the CEMD meeting conducted with the team of assessors.
5. Provide technical guidance and support to produce the final CEMD report.
6. Technical support in conducting training programs to assessors and hospital teams.