‘KSOGA – Manyata’ collaborate to ensure Quality Maternal Care in Karnataka

Pragativahini News, Belagavi –Karnataka State Obstetrics & Gynecology Association (KSOGA) and Manyata come together to enhance the quality of healthcare that the expectant mothers receive from providers in Karnataka.

They plan to achieve this by providing on-site or centralized training to private providers and paramedical staff on standards required to deliver quality and respectful care to mothers during and after childbirth. Their goal is to certify 100 small private healthcare facilities in Karnataka. Manyata has already certified 1800 providers in 25 Districts belonging to 4 States, thereby touching the lives of 11,117,070 Indians. The launch of this initiative in Karnataka is expected to cover over 5,00,000 women.

KSOGA has come a long way from a cluster of 8 societies to an organization of 20 societies. It imparts knowledge to practicing gynecologists, teaching postgraduate students and young gynecologists, and helps develop their skill and talent. KSOGA’s collaboration with Manyata hopes to address “trust issues” between the Government and the private healthcare sector, and to provide the best care to mothers, thereby ensuring excellence in maternity care services at small private healthcare facilities in Karnataka.

India has the second highest number of maternal deaths in the world, and Karnataka had triple digit maternal mortality rate until recently, and the rate has now dipped to 50%. Still around 2,500 women died due to pregnancy related issues last year.

Dr. Hema Divakar, who is the National Convener for Manyata, and also the CEO of ARTIST (Asian Research and Training Institute for Skill Transfer) said: “There is a need to improve maternal care by engaging private maternity providers and ensure that they adhere to evidence based clinical standards to help make childbirth a safer experience.”

Throwing further light on this initiative, Dr. Hema added: “With ARTIST as the implementing partner, we can ensure that our vision, which is to ensure that no woman dies during childbirth, will soon become a reality in Karnataka.”

Dr. Shobana Patted, who was recently elected as the President of KSOGA, believes that this collaboration “will enable KSOGA to be the reference standard for all the other societies. It is always the teamwork that makes the dream work. Eventually through public private partnerships and optimal utilization of technology, the healthcare providers will be the recipients of continuous education through centers of excellence, digital media, and continuous monitoring. The reforms and universality in the care and coverage ensures that more people from all sections of the society will be benefited.”

The KSOGA – Manyata launch is supported by MEYER VITABIOTICS.

 A Note about Manyata:

Manyata provides on-site or centralized training’s to private providers and paramedical staff on standards required to deliver quality and respectful care to mothers during and after childbirth.

Manyata in collaboration with Federation of Obstetric and Gynecological Societies of India (FOGSI) has developed 16 core clinical standards on antenatal, delivery, and postpartum period. Manyata is a stamp of quality, which ensures that the best clinical practices are upheld by well-trained staff, thereby providing a better, respectful and safer experience for mothers during childbirth.

• Select facilities are enrolled and assessed on the FOGSI clinical standards
• On passing an external FOGSI assessment, facilities receive the ‘Manyata’ certification.
• FOGSI linked QI structures will provide training, mentoring and support to improve their adherence to the standards and the subsequent certification.
• Jhpiego is providing the technical support to sustain the initiative through implementation of QI hubs. These QI hubs, managed by the FOGSI National Program Management Unit (NPMU), recruit empanelled lead assessors from FOGSI to assess facilities for standards and recommend certification.