Despite improvements in health-care utilization, disadvantages persist among rural, less educated, and indigenous populations in Ecuador. The United States Agency for International Development-funded Cotopaxi Project created a provincial-level network of health services, including community agents to improve access, quality, and coordination of essential obstetric and newborn care. We evaluated changes in participating facilities compared to non-participating controls.
The 21 poorest parishes (third-level administrative unit) in Cotopaxi were targeted from 2010 to 2013 for a collaborative health system performance improvement. The intervention included service reorganization, integration of traditional birth attendants (TBAs) with formal supervision, community outreach and education, and health worker technical training. Baseline (
The percentage of women receiving a postnatal visit within first 2 days of delivery increased from 53 to 81 in the intervention group and from 70 to 90 in the comparison group (
The project established a comprehensive coordinated provincial-level network of health services and strengthened links between community, primary, and hospital health care. This improved access to, quality, use, and provision of essential obstetric and neonatal care and survival. Ecuador’s Ministry of Health is scaling up the model nationally.