About The Position
To address the critical needs in peri- and neonatal care in Abkhazia region, UNICEF is recruiting international consultants: 1. Obstetrician/Gynaecologist (Team Leader) 2. Neonatologist 3. Midwife The consultants will work as a team to conduct an Assessment of the quality of neonatal and obstetric care in Abkhazia using the WHO integrated quality assessment tool. Guided by the team leader, consultants will complete all modules of the tool on-site at: Republican Maternity Hospital in Sukhumi Seven district hospitals Seven women’s consultation clinics The completion of modules will be allocated among team members according to professional expertise. Assessment Dimensions 1. Hospital Resources Physical infrastructure and amenities Health management information systems Human resources for health Availability and management of medicines, equipment and supplies Laboratory services 2. Hospital-Level Policies and Organization of Services Hospital policies and implementation Infection prevention and control Continuous quality improvement Organization of maternal and newborn care Access and continuity of care Protection of mother and newborn rights 3. Provision of Health Care Maternal health: pregnancy intrapartum care postpartum care Newborn health: readiness to manage newborns at birth care for healthy and sick newborns facility preparedness for advanced newborn care Additional areas: monitoring of obstetric complications monitoring of sick newborns 4. Experience of Care Interviews with mothers and caretakers focusing on: experience of care perceptions of quality and respectfulness 5. Motivation and Perspectives of Human Resources Assessment through staff interviews including: availability of physical resources hospital policies on professional development organization of services 6. Feedback and Action Planning Supporting a standards-based audit process to: analyse quality of care at facility level develop action plans for improvement Including: a) Referral and transport pathways b) Maternal-neonatal intensive care units (ICU) requirements c) Discharge handover and neonatal follow-up d) Development of five prioritized clinical care protocols
Requirements
- Professional degree, Bachelor’s Degree in Midwifery
- Minimum 10 years clinical experience
- Experience with WHO quality assessment tool
- Experience in developing clinical protocols
- Training experience
- Fluency in English and Russian
Nice To Haves
- Experience with UNICEF and WHO
- Experience in fragile contexts (advantage)
Responsibilities
- Assessment Preparation: Provide technical expertise on maternity and immediate newborn care, focusing on patient rights, human resource motivation, tool adaptation, facility assessments, report preparation, protocol development, workshops
- Facility Assessments: Lead maternity and immediate newborn care assessments across all sites. Outputs: Completed facility assessment tools, Facility gap summaries
- Assessment Report: Draft maternity and newborn sections of the report and recommendations.
- Clinical Protocol Development: Draft maternity-related elements of five clinical protocols.
- Protocol Workshops: Co-facilitate workshops and update protocols.
- Final Technical Inputs: Provide final technical inputs and presentation slides.
