health and well-being, and their right to food and nutrition.1c:T42b,

Rigorous monitoring supports progress in achieving maternal and newborn mortality and morbidity reductions. Recent work to strengthen measurement for maternal and newborn health highlights the existence of a large number of indicators being used for this purpose. The definitions and data sources used to produce indicator estimates vary and challenges exist with completeness, accuracy, transparency, and timeliness of data.

The objective of this study is to create a conceptual overview of how indicator validity is defined and understood by those who develop and use maternal and newborn health indicators.

1d:T63a,

Malawi has systematically scaled up Kangaroo Mother Care (KMC) for the care of preterm and low-birth-weight (LBW) babies since 2005. However, the absence of a national system of standardized indicators, registers, and reports resulted in limited, poor quality routine data for monitoring availability and uptake of KMC. A pilot effort found challenges with the registers and reporting form. Malawi’s Ministry of Health, with support from Save the Children, developed a national routine reporting system for KMC, including a simplified, user-friendly KMC register and reporting form. They tested the revised registers and reporting forms to include only core indicators, and then revise