Over the past 33 months, the Health Strategy and Delivery Foundation (HSDF), in collaboration with the Lagos State Primary Health Care Board (LSPHCB), conceived and piloted the Community-Based Maternal and Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (CMPDSR) initiative in Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area. During this period, a series of stakeholder consultations, community engagement activities, advocacy and sensitization efforts, and technical workshops led to the validation and adoption of the CMPDSR implementation model for the state.

CMPDSR committees were inaugurated at the state, LGA, and across the 14 wards in the LGA to facilitate the coordination, integration, and sustainability of the intervention. In addition, 56 frontline health workers and community representatives were trained as verbal autopsy (VA) team members to conduct community-based maternal death data collection and review process.

At a pivotal meeting, HSDF facilitated a community stakeholder engagement and handover meeting for the intervention under the leadership of Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Area and Ojokoro Local Council Development Area. Attendees included the House Leader of Ifako-Ijaiye representing the Chairman of the LGA, the Vice Chairman of Ojokoro LCDA, councillors, traditional and religious leaders, the Iya Oloja, representatives of Community Development Associations (CDAs) and Ward Health Committees (WHCs), women and youth leaders, as well as ward-level CMPDSR committee members. Representatives of the LSPHCB and implementing partners were also in attendance.

The meeting highlighted an overview of implementation progress, emerging findings from verbal autopsies conducted over the last 20 months, and the impact of the launch of a toll-free line to strengthen maternal death reporting within the community. A total of 10 maternal deaths were reported, with hemorrhagic complications accounting for 50% of the cases. Most of these deaths were associated with delayed decision-making and weak referral systems.

Participants commended the project’s efforts in bringing attention to a critical community health challenge. The leadership of the LGA reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining and fully integrating the intervention into existing community health structures. The meeting concluded with the formal handover of the CMPDSR intervention to the LGA and community leadership.

HSDF will continue to provide technical support to the LGA as it transitions to full ownership of the intervention, reinforcing its role as a trusted technical partner supporting impact-driven surveillance and accountability systems that are locally owned, sustainable, and designed to reduce maternal deaths.