WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist: The Experience of Kenya According to the WHO African Partnership for Patient Safety

Abstract

The burden of unsafe care is still very high all around the globe. A study conducted in 2012 in African and Middle Eastern Countries reports that in developing countries the incidence of adverse event is 8,2% and of these 83% are preventable. WHO estimates that about 287.000 are maternal deaths, 1 million fetal deaths during intrapartum period and 3 million deaths of infants during the neonatal period. WHO promoted a campaign for adopting the Safe Childbirth Checklist (SCC), that is an organized list of evidence-based essential birth practices, which targets the major causes of maternal deaths, intrapartum-related stillbirths and neonatal deaths that occur in health-care facilities. The objectives of the project are: introducing the WHO SCC in one hospital of Kenya and evaluating the locally adapted tool in terms of impact on safety and quality and its usability and feasibility. The Centre for Clinical Risk Management and Patient Safety, the Centre for Global Health, the University Hospital of Siena the Ruaraka Uhai Neema Hospital undersigned a partnership following the WHO African Partnership for Patient Safety model for implementing safety and quality in the maternal and neonatal area in particular through the use of the WHO SCC. The WHO SCC has been adopted with a positive feedback from midwifes. The childbirth checklist has increased the delivery of some essential childbirth-related care practices and the appropriateness during the administration of antibiotic therapy and antihypertensive treatment. The twinning model proposed by WHO has the potential to go far beyond patient safety issue it can advance efforts towards building resilient health systems.