Technical Committee meetings to review and update standards and treatment pathways for care during birth and immediate postpartum period were conducted by the Ministry of Health with the support from UNFPA and WHO were held starting from 25 October 2016.

Ministry of Health reviews and updates standards and treatment pathways for care during birth and immediate postpartum period with the technical assistance from UNFPA and WHO

A series of Technical Committee meetings to review and update standards and treatment pathways for care during birth and immediate postpartum period were conducted by the Ministry of Health with the support from UNFPA and WHO were held starting from 25 October 2016.

Based on the findings of the Emergency Obstetric and Newborn Care Needs Assessment  in the year 2015 that covered  all 67 Community Health Centres, 5 referral hospitals, national hospital and the two private facilities in the country,  an improvement plan was developed to be implemented over four years 2016-2019. One of the priority activities in the Plan of Action is to develop National norms and standards for the care of mothers and newborns.

The technical committee led by Dr. Jose Antonio Gusmão Guterres, OBGyn and the Executive Director of the National Hospital was appointed by the Cabinet of General Director for Service Delivery and is comprised of OBGYn doctors and midwives, National University of Timor-Leste, INS,  Cuban Medical Brigade, APTL, RACS, St John of God, UNFPA and WHO and MCH Department.

As the next step, based on these standards and treatment pathways a comprehensive training package will be developed, and the Ministry of Health will establish a trainers team within country to roll out the training.