Making pregnancy safer : first regional workshop on "Beyond the Numbers" : reviewing maternal and perinatal deaths and complications, Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan 30 May-2 June 2004

Abstract

Every year, many women suffer pregnancy-related complications and a number die. Linked to this is the burden of perinatal mortality and morbidity. Most of these deaths and complications can be averted with basic and effective low cost interventions even where resources are limited and Beyond the numbers (‎BTN)‎ presents an approach for understanding how this can be done. The first regional BTN workshop was held in Issyk Kul, Kyrgyzstan, from 30 May to 2 June 2004, with the participation of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, the Republic of Moldova, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan and partners such as UN agencies (‎UNFPA, UNICEF)‎ and non-governmental organizations (‎ZdravPlus, Project Hope)‎. The workshop was organized by WHO-Regional Office for Europe Making Pregnancy Safer programme, with support from WHO-Geneva. The concepts of BTN were introduced, how these can be used as a tool for improving clinical management and outcomes of care. The aim is to help countries introduce the BTN approaches to acquire experience and develop general recommendations for reducing the burden of severe maternal and neonatal morbidity. During working group sessions, the country teams developed drafts for national action plans. A number of recommendations were made for implementing BTN in national settings