Under the support of the Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE), the Ministry of Health Vietnam (MOH) developed the National Plan on Safe Motherhood that was approved by the Minister of Health on November 5, 2003. The National Plan on Safe Motherhood (SMNP) consists of two phases of implementation. Phase I of the National Plan (2003-2005) aims to build management capacity to MOH at different levels in safe motherhood programs, to advocate for further investment in safe motherhood, and test alternative intervention approaches that will be the foundation for broader implementation in Phase II. Phase II of the National Plan (2006-2010) will be expanded nation-wide in order to contribute to the implementation of the National Strategy for Reproductive Health Care. Safe Motherhood Initiative (SMI) project VIE/03/P21– a part of the phase I of the SMNP has been implemented by the MOH Vietnam during the period 2003-2005 with financial support from Netherlands Embassy.
The project goals were to improve the quality of obstetric care, strengthen SM and NBC related activities in order to reduce maternal and neonatal mortality in Vietnam. The project objectives aims to (1) strengthen capacity of central, regional and provincial levels to effectively manage SM/NBC activities; (2) implement prioritized and comprehensive SM/NBC interventions in three provinces and draw lessons learned for the future national application; (3) implement advocacy and information, education and communication/behaviour change communication (IEC/BCC) related activities in order to increase the awareness and support of decision makers and the community to desired objectives of SMNP; and (4) to prepare for the second phase of SMNP.