Implementation Guideline on Maternal Near-Miss Audit

Bangladesh has made significant progress in the last two decades by implementing various programs to reduce maternal mortality. Many maternal deaths still occur that could be prevented through appropriate health system responses. Review of near-miss cases is increasingly being used worldwide to identify system-level barriers and respond to potentially life-threatening conditions thereby, improving the quality of obstetric care. The Bangladesh Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) collaborated with USAID’s MaMoni Maternal and Newborn Care Strengthening Project (MaMoni MNCSP) and Obstetrical and Gynecological Society of Bangladesh (OGSB) to develop this implementation guideline and tools on near-miss audit. This guideline is designed to guide health care professionals at national and facility levels to implement near-miss audits, integrating with the Maternal and Perinatal Death Monitoring and Response (MPDSR) system, which aims to capture, review, and respond to maternal and perinatal deaths.