Challenge

Across India’s private healthcare sector, which serves roughly 35% of women giving birth in facilities, the quality of maternity care is highly variable and often suboptimal. Without standardized, evidence-backed practices, preventable complications like postpartum hemorrhage and pre-eclampsia can escalate, putting mothers and newborns at risk. While national efforts have strengthened care in public facilities, private hospitals have lacked a dedicated, scalable framework for clinical quality in maternal health.

Solution

Enter Manyata, a digitally enabled quality improvement and accreditation initiative led by MSD for Mothers (MfM), alongside the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) and a consortium of collaborators. MSD for Mothers is MSD’s global initiative to help create a world where no woman has to die while giving life.

At its core are 16 evidence-based clinical standards in line with WHO-recognized protocols, covering every stage of maternal care from antenatal visits to postnatal recovery. Hospitals seeking certification undergo independent assessments, valid for three years, creating accountability and a culture of continuous improvement.

Technology and training are central to the model. Manyata’s digital quality assessment platform enables hospitals to track standards in real time, generating data to guide providers and policymakers. Healthcare teams are trained not only to manage complications but also to deliver respectful, patient-centric care. What began in 2013 as a fully grant-funded program has since matured into a financially sustainable model. Hospitals now pay for accreditation and quality support, while innovative financing mechanisms—such as results-based funding and blended models—have enabled scale. Manyata’s collaboration with India’s National Accreditation Board for Hospitals and Healthcare Providers has further embedded its standards into the national healthcare accreditation framework.