Participatory Learning and Action for Maternal and Newborn Health
Technical Assistance Package
Welcome to Women and Children First’s groundbreaking technical assistance package for organisations seeking to embed community mobilisation to improve maternal and newborn health
A PLA group gather in Bangladesh
Why Participatory Learning and Action for Maternal and Newborn Health (PLA-MNH)?
Women and Children First promotes the Participatory Learning and Action for Maternal and Newborn Health (PLA-MNH) methodology. PLA-MNH is the world leading community mobilisation approach available for maternal and newborn health and the only one specifically recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO, 2014) and enshrined in Every Newborn Action Plan (WHO, 2014).
“Community mobilization through facilitated participatory learning and action cycles is strongly recommended and was studied through randomized controlled trials, which is a higher level of evidence than other interventions [promoting maternal and newborn health]”.
Smith, Portela and Marston (2017)
PLA-MNH consists of trained local facilitators forming mother and child health groups and guiding them through structured meetings in a four-phase action cycle where they: a) identify the health challenges affecting women and children that are considered most important; b) design local solutions; c) lead their communities to implement these solutions; and d) evaluate their results.
The extensive evidence base for PLA-MNH includes:
Effective: Seven cluster randomised controlled trials and a meta-analysis have shown that PLA-MNH can reduce maternal mortality by 49% and neonatal mortality by 33% when at least a third of pregnant women attend a group (Manandhar et al, 2004; Tripathy et al, 2010; Azad et al, 2010; Shah More et al, 2012; Fottrell et al, 2013; Lewycka et al, 2013; Colbourn et al, 2013; Prost et al, 2013).
Cost-effective: PLA-MNH is cost-effective by WHO standards, with a cost of between $1,457 to $8,670 per neonatal death averted (Prost et al, 2013; Mangham-Jefferies et al, 2014).
Equitable: PLA-MNH is pro-poor and can contribute to an equitable reduction in neonatal mortality across socio-economic strata (Houweling et al, 2016).
Sustainable: Up to 80% of PLA-MNH groups remain active beyond the end of project funding (Sondaal et al, 2018).
Scalable: There is evidence PLA-MNH can be scaled through community health worker structures (Tripathy et al, 2016)). At scale it could save the lives of 400,000 newborns and 60,000 women every year (Prost et al, 2013).
Flexible: Groups can be facilitated by community health workers or by volunteers supervised by community health workers. Potential for groups to be facilitated via radio and supported by community health workers is also being investigated.
"[PLA-MNH] is not a drug. It’s not a vaccine. It’s not a device. It’s women, working together, solving problems, saving lives”.
Richard Horton – Editor, The Lancet
Why Women and Children First?
Women and Children First has:
Over 20-years experience in the design, implementation and evaluation of PLA-MNH in 13 countries in Africa, Asia and Central America.
Developed a world class technical assistance package, that has successfully been used by partners in 13 countries to embed PLA-MNH and deliver community mobilisation programmes that have benefitted over 12 million people – and counting.
Expanded this package so it can uniquely be delivered via e-learning, online, face-to-face or blended learning channels.
Evidence that this package has empowered partners to deliver programmes that have mobilised communities to bring about substantial improvements in maternal and newborn health, most recently in Ethiopia, where our partner Doctors with Africa CUAMM used the training to establish 100 groups that achieved the following success, in the context of the coronavirus epidemic:
“Although Doctors with Africa CUAMM is committed to engaging communities in maternal and newborn health, we saw the need to more systematically implement more effective methodologies across more of our programmes. Women and Children First empowered us with everything we needed to achieve this. With their comprehensive training, support, advice and materials we embedded PLA-MNH, a world class community mobilisation methodology, across multiple of our country programmes. The PLA-MNH groups established have successfully mobilised communities to change home-care practices, increase care-seeking behaviour and advocate for improved quality and accessibility of services – they have saved lives”.
Andrea Atzori – Head of International Relations, Doctors with Africa CUAMM
What is included?
Women and Children First’s comprehensive technical assistance package consists of six support packs, that can be tailored to provide everything an organisation needs to embed PLA-MNH. The packs include a wide range of materials and can be delivered via e-learning, online, face-to-face or blended learning channels:
Find out more
To find out more about the PLA-MNH Technical Assistance package offered by Women and Children First, please complete the form below and one of the team will be in touch within five working days with more details.
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