Morocco Forum on Maternal Mortality: Sharing Experience and Sustaining Progress

We posted recently about the success that Morocco has had in reducing its maternal mortality ratio and a recent meeting in Rabat that “brought together leaders in research, policy, and implementation. Participating in the Forum were national and regional health policymakers, UN development agencies, academics, foundations, and medical leaders.” The forum generated a policy brief attributing Morocco’s progress to:

• Strong political engagement;
• Mobilizing funds to finance free delivery, including Caesarian-section delivery;
• A participatory and multisectoral governing body to oversee strategy and identify priority actions;
• A whole-of-health-system approach that strengthened multiple health system building blocks and processes;
• Mobilization of professionals and professional organizations to support the strategy;
• Large expansion of pre-service midwifery education and some expansion of medical specialty training;
• Decision-making based on evidence, and involvement of the scientific community;
• Creation of strong links with communities;
• Attention to non-technical quality of care to ensure a positive patient experience in facilities;
• Implementation of the maternal mortality surveillance system.