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ACADEMIA Letters Integration of COVID-19 response services into routine maternal, newborn and child health services at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital – Kampala, Uganda Henry Kiiza, Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital, Kampala; MPH Makerere University School of Public Health, Uganda Imelda Namagembe, Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital Suzanne Kiwanuka, Makerere School of Public Health Introduction Preparedness and response support is critical to countries with high maternal and perinatal mortality rates especially in the low and middle income countries; in Uganda, many health facilities were hard-pressed shouldering additional burdens of continuing with their normal maternal health and other services while dedicating exceptional effort to combating COVID19. Clinicians and health care managers continue to invest substantial time and resources in hospital quality improvement efforts, but many organizations fail to integrate new practices into organizational routines, causing disruptions in access and provision of essential health services to mothers, newborns, children, and adolescents, potentially leading to preventable mortality and morbidity. Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Henry Kiiza, heniskyza@gmail.com Citation: Kiiza, H., Namagembe, I., Kiwanuka, S. (2021). Integration of COVID-19 response services into routine maternal, newborn and child health services at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital – Kampala, Uganda. Academia Letters, Article 3729. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3729. 1 Objective To describe the integration of COVID-19 Infection Prevention and Control (IPC) services into the routine maternal newborn and child health services at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal hospital (MSWNH). Methods Descriptive cross-sectional study, using quantitative approach, was employed. A survey on 100 medical workers and non-medical workers who were conveniently selected was conducted using a pretested questionnaire. Three observations were done on three physical visits to each specialized clinical department in July to September 2020 to Assess of preparedness of facilities for Infection prevention and control at major service points was done using an observational checklist adapted from Ministry of Health. Selected health systems factors, including: Service delivery e.g. Infrastructure and Access to MNCH services; Human resources (Clinical and non-clinical staff, Medical supplies/materials for IPC and staff IPC practices were studied. Descriptive statistics was used as counts and percentages and excel spread sheets was used for final data analysis to explain the concepts of integration of COVID-19 IPC activities into routine MNCH services, which were observed as Organizational and Health workers compliance to IPC practices, Adequate supply of IPC materials and hospital set-up for COVID-19 prevention and control. Results Majority of the participants (40%) were between the ages of 41 – 50 years, and 38% had a work experience of between 6 – 10 years. Medical workers and non-medical workers were 85% and 15% respectively.The improvised Isolation Unit satisfactorily met the required standards with running water facilities and emergency equipment for COVID-19 patients. Medical masks, hand sanitizers and medical waste collection containers were the most satisfactorily supplied basic IPC materialsat OPD ANC and Emergency departments, whereas examination gloves and aprons were initially unsatisfactory but shortly later, the supplies were drastically improved to meet the expected standards. There were no electronic staff compliance monitoring devices at all service points. On the admission wards, most IPC materials were satisfactorily supplied. All staff, Medical and Non-medical, adequately practiced IPC guidelines, including; Wearing masks (63 members), Hand sanitizing & washing (47 & 40 members), social distancing was also noted to be emphasized, during service provision. Regular COVID-19 IPC Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Henry Kiiza, heniskyza@gmail.com Citation: Kiiza, H., Namagembe, I., Kiwanuka, S. (2021). Integration of COVID-19 response services into routine maternal, newborn and child health services at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital – Kampala, Uganda. Academia Letters, Article 3729. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3729. 2 trainings were conducted within and outside MSWNH, and these improved staff confidence; although stigma and fear was noted to affect the practice of those who were inadequately trained. Conclusions Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital has made remarkable improvement in regard to the different facility level preparedness and implementation of COVID-19 IPC activities. The facility’s structural design challenges especially on the isolation unit have been improved and adjusted to accommodate COVID-19 additional services. Recommended IPC practices have also been well adapted in all departments (Clinical and non-clinical) of the hospital including; wearing of masks, alcohol based hand sanitizing, regular hand washing with soap and water; social distancing and use of appropriate personal protective equipment by staffs and patients during any procedure or activity. Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Henry Kiiza, heniskyza@gmail.com Citation: Kiiza, H., Namagembe, I., Kiwanuka, S. (2021). Integration of COVID-19 response services into routine maternal, newborn and child health services at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital – Kampala, Uganda. Academia Letters, Article 3729. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3729. 3 References Kimani, R. W., et al. (2020). “Maternal and newborn care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Kenya: recontextualising the community midwifery model.” Human Resources for Health 18(1): 1-5. 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Academia Letters, October 2021 ©2021 by the authors — Open Access — Distributed under CC BY 4.0 Corresponding Author: Henry Kiiza, heniskyza@gmail.com Citation: Kiiza, H., Namagembe, I., Kiwanuka, S. (2021). Integration of COVID-19 response services into routine maternal, newborn and child health services at Mulago Specialised Women and Neonatal Hospital – Kampala, Uganda. Academia Letters, Article 3729. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3729. 4