PMID- 26756587
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20160704
LR  - 20181113
IS  - 1932-6203 (Electronic)
IS  - 1932-6203 (Linking)
VI  - 11
IP  - 1
DP  - 2016
TI  - Exploring Managers' Perspectives on MNCH Program in Pakistan: A Qualitative 
      Study.
PG  - e0146665
LID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0146665 [doi]
LID - e0146665
AB  - BACKGROUND: Pakistan's Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (MNCH) Program is faced 
      with multiple challenges in service delivery, financial and logistic management, 
      training and deployment of human resources, and integration within the existing 
      health system. There is a lack of evidence on managerial aspects of the MNCH 
      program management and implementation. METHODS AND FINDINGS: This study used 
      qualitative methods to explore the challenges national, provincial and district 
      program managers have faced in implementing a community midwifery program in 
      province of Punjab while also exploring future directions for the program under a 
      devolved health system. While the program had been designed in earnest, the 
      planning lacked critical elements of involving relevant stakeholders in design 
      and implementation, socio-demographic context and capacity of the existing health 
      system. Financial limitations, weak leadership and lack of a political commitment 
      to the problem of maternal health have also had an impact on program 
      implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Our study results suggest that there is a need to 
      re-structure the program while ensuring sustainability and collaboration within 
      the health sector to increase uptake of skilled birth attendance and improve 
      maternal health care in Pakistan.
FAU - Sarfraz, Mariyam
AU  - Sarfraz M
AD  - Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan.
FAU - Hamid, Saima
AU  - Hamid S
AD  - Health Services Academy, Islamabad, Pakistan.
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PT  - Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
DEP - 20160112
PL  - United States
TA  - PLoS One
JT  - PloS one
JID - 101285081
SB  - IM
MH  - *Child Health
MH  - Female
MH  - *Health Promotion
MH  - Humans
MH  - Infant, Newborn
MH  - *Maternal Health Services
MH  - Midwifery
MH  - Pakistan
MH  - Pregnancy
MH  - *Qualitative Research
PMC - PMC4710494
COIS- Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.
EDAT- 2016/01/13 06:00
MHDA- 2016/07/05 06:00
PMCR- 2016/01/12
CRDT- 2016/01/13 06:00
PHST- 2015/09/09 00:00 [received]
PHST- 2015/12/21 00:00 [accepted]
PHST- 2016/01/13 06:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2016/01/13 06:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2016/07/05 06:00 [medline]
PHST- 2016/01/12 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - PONE-D-15-39603 [pii]
AID - 10.1371/journal.pone.0146665 [doi]
PST - epublish
SO  - PLoS One. 2016 Jan 12;11(1):e0146665. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0146665. 
      eCollection 2016.