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As the respectful maternity care agenda expands, it is necessary to understand what the priorities are for improving respectful, dignified, and high-quality care for newborns. To catalyze and inform a developing research field, we undertook a prioritization exercise to identify global research questions.We used a modified Delphi process to identify potential research priorities for understanding and addressing respectful care for newborns. Based on a literature review and expert discussions, we sent an open-ended questionnaire to participants in Round 1. The results were consolidated and used to create the Round 2 questionnaire, which asked participants to rank the preliminary list of research questions in 3 categories (descriptive, implementation, and measurement). Responses were weighted by rank and collated to generate a prioritized, consensus-based list of research questions.Round 1 resulted in 70 research questions from 25 respondents, and 52 participants completed the Round 2 ranked survey. Most participants identified themselves as researchers (53.2%), program designers, implementers, or evaluators (56.5%). More than half of the participants reported working primarily in low-income countries (66%). Top descriptive questions were on understanding manifestations and definitions of disrespectful care among newborns and which perceptions and beliefs held by health workers affect the quality of care provided. Top implementation questions were around how to promote respectful care as a standard, challenges faced by health facilities, and identification of effective advocacy strategies. Top measurement questions were on quantitative and qualitative metrics and the impact of experiences on health outcomes.This study developed, for the first time, a prioritized list of research questions focusing exclusively on respectful care for newborns. The study highlighted the absence of agreed-upon terminology and tools needed to advance both theoretical and practical efforts. This list should guide researchers and other stakeholders in developing further research.

We mapped evidence from low- and middle-income countries of the human resources for health-related challenges to providing quality facility-based newborn care into tangible thematic areas. The mapping provides valuable insight that informed new World Health Organization strategies to systematically address the challenges identified and to strengthen human resources for health for newborn care globally and nationally., Key Messages We mapped the evidence of human resources for health (HRH)-related challenges to providing quality facility-based newborn care into 10 categories: Lack of HRH data and monitoringPoor health worker (HW) preservice educationLack of HW access to evidence-based guidelines, continuing education, and continuing professional developmentInsufficient and inequitable distribution of HWs and heavy workloadPoor retention, absenteeism, and rotation of experienced staffPoor work environment, including low salaryLimited and poor supervisionLow morale, motivation, and attitude, and job dissatisfactionWeaknesses of policy, regulations, management, leadership, governance, and fundingStructural and contextual barriers Mapping the evidence provided useful insight to inform recently published World Health Organization strategies to systematically address the challenges and strengthen HRH for newborn care globally and nationally. The thematic analysis process also underscored the complicated interactions between different types of HRH challenges. Findings support new strategies for action to address these challenges., Background: A critical shortage of health workers with needed maternal and newborn competencies remains a major challenge for the provision of quality care for mothers and newborns, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Supply-side challenges related to human resources for health (HRH) worsen shortages and can negatively affect health worker performance and quality of care. This review scoped country-focused sources to identify and map evidence on HRH-related challenges to quality facility-based newborn care provision by nurses and midwives. Methods: Evidence for this review was collected iteratively, beginning with pertinent World Health Organization documents and extending to articles identified via database and manual reference searches and country reports. Evidence from country-focused sources from 2000 onward was extracted using a data extraction tool that was designed iteratively; thematic analysis was used to map the 10 categories of HRH challenges. Findings: A total of 332 peer-reviewed articles were screened, of which 22 met inclusion criteria. Fourteen additional sources were added from manual reference search and gray literature sources. Evidence has been mapped into 10 categories of HRH-related challenges: (1) lack of health worker data and monitoring; (2) poor health worker preservice education; (3) lack of HW access to evidence-based practice guidelines, continuing education, and continuing professional development; (4) insufficient and inequitable distribution of health workers and heavy workload; (5) poor retention, absenteeism, and rotation of experienced staff; (6) poor work environment, including low salary; (7) limited and poor supervision; (8) low morale, motivation, and attitude, and job dissatisfaction; (9) weaknesses of policy, regulations, management, leadership, governance, and funding; and (10) structural and contextual barriers. Conclusion: The mapping provides needed insight that informed new World Health Organization strategies and supporting efforts to address the challenges identified and strengthen human resources for neonatal care, with the ultimate goal of improving newborn care and outcomes.

Many countries will need to double, or more than double, their current annual rate of reduction of maternal mortality to ensure sufficient progress toward national targets and the global Sustainable Development Goals. Dedication to the principles and actions of quality, equity, dignity, social justice, and human rights are key.