WASH Consultant - Reduction of Newborn Sepsis Pilot Program at Save The Children

Background

• In 2009, an estimated 3 million babies died during the neonatal period (the first 28 days of life). Infections caused approximately 13% of these deaths. Three-quarters of neonatal deaths occur in the first week of life, and more than one-quarter occur in the first 24 hours. In Nigeria, sepsis is one of the three leading causes of neonatal mortality. Nationally, sepsis and other infections account for 16% of neonatal deaths.
• USAID’s Maternal and Child Survival Program (MCSP) in Nigeria is focused on improving the quality of maternal, newborn and child health at facility-level in Kogi and Ebonyi States. In July 2017 MCSP, in partnership with the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, conducted a study to identify the behavioral barriers and motivators to practicing appropriate hygiene during the highest risk period for both newborn sepsis and puerperal sepsis in mothers, the period from the onset of labor through the first two days of life. With the findings from this study, MCSP aims to develop and pilot a set of WASH activities aimed at improving hygiene practices of health care staff and caregivers from the onset of labor through the first two days of life.
• Concurrently, MCSP plans to examine the resource, management, staffing, and behaviors and protocol needs to achieve optimal WASH/infection prevention control (IPC) within inpatient newborn care wards. MCSP will develop WASH-IPC guidelines (and corresponding activities) and pilot test the aforementioned draft indicators and activities for inpatient newborn care in facilities. The results from the pilot tests will then inform the integration of newborn care area hygiene in MCSP Nigeria’s broader maternal, newborn and child health, quality of care and WASH activities.

Overview of Assigned Tasks

• The Consultant will be tasked with leading the development, implementation and monitoring of WASH activities in 6 health facilities in Kogi and/or Ebonyi States over a six month period. The consultant will also be responsible for developing and testing WASH-IPC guidelines for inpatient newborn care wards. It is imperative that pilot activities are integrated with existing MCSP maternal, newborn and child health and quality of care activities.
• The Consultant will report to the Senior Newborn Health Advisor for MCSP Nigeria, but will work in close collaboration with other MCSP maternal, newborn and quality improvement staff members both in Abuja, Ebonyi and Kogi states and Washington DC. The assigned tasks and deliverables for this scope of work include:

Program development and Start-up (Oct 23 - Dec 15, 2017):
The Consultant will participate in a design workshop to develop program activities and timelines along with MCSP and SMoH staff. Following the design workshop, the consultant will be responsible for leading the developing the following potential products:

• A finalized workplan and timeline of activities
• WASH protocols (including standards, indicators and best practices) for labor and delivery, inpatient newborn care spaces, discharge counseling, and home care
• WASH & IPC counseling materials for use during discharge
• Training package for integrating WASH protocols/materials into ongoing MCSP maternal and newborn activities
• Pilot program monitoring and evaluation plan

All products will be developed in close coordination with relevant MCSP staff in Nigeria and the US. Each product will undergo an iterative review process in which designated members of MCSP Nigeria and MCSP Washington DC will contribute to and review each product.

Program implementation and monitoring (Jan 01, 2017 - March 19, 2018):

• Upon finalization of all training packages, monitoring tools and protocols, the Consultant will lead the implementation of WASH activities in 6 health care facilities (assigned by the MCSP Nigeria team).
• The consultant should be prepared to lead trainings with MCSP field staff and health care facility staff.
• The consultant will also lead the implementation of monitoring activities to test the effectiveness of pilot activities.

Program Evaluation, Refinement and Reporting (March 26 - Apr 30, 2018):

• Toward the end of the pilot period, the Consultant will analyze and summarize program monitoring data.
• The Consultant will lead a workshop to share findings from the pilot activities and discuss refinements in protocols and activities to be scaled in MCSP impact areas.
• The Consultant should be prepared to lead the planning of the workshop.
• Upon completion of the workshop the Consultant will be required to submit an end of pilot report to MCSP.

Deliverables

• A finalized workplan and timeline of activities (November 13, 2017)
• Relevant training materials, protocols, and counseling materials (December 12, 2017)
• Pilot program monitoring plan (December 12, 2017)
• Finalized End of Pilot and Refinement Workshop agenda (Mar 27, 2018)
• Host end of Pilot and Refinement Workshop (Apr 04, 2018)
• Draft of Pilot Program Report (Apr 19, 2018)
• Final End of Pilot Program Report, including an overview of design workshop, pilot program methods and activities, findings (from monitoring data), lessons learned ( from consultant and MCSP staff), and a summary of the End of Pilot Refinement workshop (Apr 30, 2018)
• Finalized WASH protocols (to include standards, indicators, and best practices) for delivery room, inpatient newborn care wards, discharge counseling and home care (Apr 30).
• Present findings at dissemination meetings in both states (Apr 30).

Qualifications

• Advanced degree in Public Health, International Relations, Clinical Research or other related field
• Experience implementing WASH and/or infection prevention activities in health care facilities
• Experience working in maternal health and/or newborn health preferred
• Experience  designing training materials, counseling materials, particularly for health facility staff
• Experience leading trainings: implementation trainings and train-the-trainer trainings
• Experience collecting and analyzing quantitative and qualitative data
• Demonstrated skills in report writing
• Strong communication, analytical and writing skills