- Home
- /
- IMAgiNE FVG
How was this project born?
The “IMAgiNE” project stems from the previous experiences developed by the WHO Collaborating Center (WHO CC) for Maternal and Child Health of the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo of Trieste (Italy) both in the context of the evaluation of the quality of maternal-neonatal care and in promoting standards of care.
After contributing to the development of the WHO Standards for the Improvement of the Quality of Maternal and Neonatal Care (2016), the WHO CC has begun to implement them through a pilot project at the IRCCS Burlo Garofolo. This project, called “QuaNDO: Qualità e Diritti alla Nascita Ora”, conducted between 2017 and 2018, collected the testimony of over 1200 women regarding the care received in the hospital and over 100 healthcare professionals on the care delivered during the same period. The results of this project then helped to identify concrete actions needed to improve the quality of hospital care.
For more information on the results of the QuaNDO project go to the “Documents” section and read our publications.
Thanks to the interest shown by the FVG Region, the project was then expanded and included the nine maternity hospitals of FVG, the IMAgiNE FVG project has been stared.
What are the objectives?
The aim of the project is to improve the quality of maternal-neonatal care in the maternity hospitals of the FVG Region by increasing the satisfaction of women and health professionals.
The project also has the following specific objectives:
1. to sensitize healthcare professionals of the FVG Region regarding respectful maternal and neonatal care and the rights of pregnant women during childbirth;
2. to promote the implementation of the WHO Standards for the Improvement of the Quality of Maternal-Neonatal Care in the maternity hospitals of the Region;
3. to collect, in each maternity hospital in the Region, information relating to key indicators on the quality of care during childbirth (as per the WHO Standard), through two complementary sources: the experience of women and the perception of healthcare professionals;
4. analyze the data obtained and identify concrete and specific actions to improve the quality of maternal and newborn care in each maternity hospital.
They will participate
How is the quality of care assessed?
To assess the quality of care, the project uses two questionnaires:
1. a telephone questionnaire for women who give birth in one of the nine maternity hospitals of FVG Region;
2. an online questionnaire for healthcare professionals who provide care to women or newborns (i.e., gynecologists, pediatricians, midwives, nurses, doctors in training) in FVG Region.
The questionnaires include many of the indicators that WHO recommends monitoring to assess the quality of care and to identify interventions to improve it. Among these indicators there are, for example: the frequency with which caesarean section is performed, the frequency with which an episiotomy is performed, the presence of breastfeeding support, the type of communication used by healthcare professionals, the presence of adequate measures aimed at maintaining patient privacy, the availability of guidelines and training courses for healthcare professionals and other strategies to increase the satisfaction of women and healthcare professionals.
The questionnaires were then extended to all of Italy and many other European countries, thanks to the IMAgiNE EURO project.
To find out more about the European project, go to the “IMAgiNE EURO” section.
What activities does the project envisage?
The project includes:
– the development of training packages aimed at healthcare professionals with others dissemination activities aimed at spreading awareness about the rights of women and newborns at the time of birth and knowledge of the WHO Standards;
– the creation, in each maternity hospital, of a work group made up of various professional figures with the aim of promoting the ability to work in a team and to implement concrete actions to improve the quality of the care provided;
– the creation of a network between the nine maternity hospitals, the community healthcare professionals, to encourage the sharing of good practices during birth assistance and the continuity of care between the two realities;
– the dissemination of the results obtained in national and international conferences and through other dissemination activities in order to promote the development of other initiatives aimed at protecting the rights of women and children.