We are working to strengthen maternal, newborn and child health services across Uganda through AdaraNewborn – our evidence-based, high-impact model of maternal and newborn care.
Built on 28 years of experience, AdaraNewborn is designed to increase survival rates for the sickest and smallest newborns and their mothers in low-resource settings. It does this by delivering high-quality healthcare and strengthening the health system across health facilities, in the community, and at home.
Our goal is to halve maternal and newborn mortality in AdaraNewborn facilities, while contributing meaningfully to broader national reductions through systems strengthening and partnership.
The AdaraNewborn model
AdaraNewborn improves survival rates and outcomes for mothers and newborns through targeted, evidence-based interventions that directly address the top causes of mortality and morbidity.
AdaraNewborn supports mothers and babies across the full continuum of care: from pregnancy through to their return home after birth. The model integrates facility-based care with community programmes while upskilling health workers, equipping facilities and strengthening health systems for sustainable, long-term change.
We are now expanding AdaraNewborn across Uganda to save more maternal and newborn lives. Central to this model is close partnership with all levels of government.
AdaraNewborn works across five arms for mums and babies: antenatal care; intrapartum care; inpatient care for small and sick newborns; postnatal care for mother and baby; follow up care and early intervention.
Across each arm, we strengthen the health system through:
Regional network of care
We are taking a systems-strengthening, district-led approach to maternal and newborn care across North Central Uganda. This is the regional network of care. In close partnership with government, we will work over the next decade to strengthen maternal, newborn and child health services across seven key districts, building a coordinated and resilient regional health system for mothers, babies and families. Through this network, Adara works alongside districts to strengthen care at all levels of the health system, ensuring services are connected, responsive and sustainable.
Regional referral centres: At the top of our regional network sit two regional referral centres providing higher levels of specialised care. They are Kayunga Regional Referral Hospital and Kiwoko Hospital, Adara’s long-term partner and centre of excellence. These facilities anchor the system, providing advanced care, clinical mentorship and leadership to support quality services across the region.
Core facilities: In each district, Adara partners with one core facility – typically a district hospital – that receives the full AdaraNewborn programme over 7–10 years. At these facilities, we support the establishment of Level 2 neonatal units. We also invest in infrastructure upgrades, equipment packages, clinical training and mentorship, leadership and governance development, and quality improvement systems. These core facilities form the backbone of district‑level maternal and newborn services.
Lower-level health centres: We then cascade support to selected high-burden lower-level health centres in each district, which receive lighter support through targeted training, mentorship, and essential equipment. This strengthens frontline service delivery and improves referral pathways.
Communities: At community level, Adara supports mothers and babies through our Hospital to Home and Baby Ubuntu programmes. These provide mothers and babies with follow‑up care after discharge and community‑based, early-intervention services for infants who need extra support.
By strengthening linkages between facilities and communities, AdaraNewborn sets up a structured referral system and a durable ecosystem of care. This ensures women and newborns receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time – and that every district has sustainable access to high‑quality maternal and newborn services.
Over the next decade, we will roll out the full AdaraNewborn model across eight core facilities in seven districts, while providing lighter support to around 70 lower‑level health centres. In total, AdaraNewborn will strengthen 78 health facilities across the North Central region. We are already operating this approach in three districts. The next phase of expansion will launch in 2026.
Strengthening quality of care
We know that increasing access alone is not enough to reduce maternal and newborn deaths. To save lives and reach SDG targets, care must also be safe, effective, timely, efficient, equitable and people‑centred. That is the World Health Organization’s (WHO’S) definition of quality care.
AdaraNewborn puts quality of care at the heart of its work. Through clinical quality‑improvement tools, strong monitoring and evaluation systems, and a learning‑driven approach, we continuously strive to strengthen how care is delivered across AdaraNewborn facilities. These efforts ensure that improvements in access translate into real, measurable improvements in survival and quality care for mothers, newborns and their families.
“To bring our AdaraNewborn vision to life, we can’t only focus on increasing access – we must also improve the quality of services.”
– Beatrice Niyonsaba, Deputy Director of Maternal, Newborn and Child Health
Inside Luwero Hospital
Luwero Hospital is a public facility and the newest AdaraNewborn site, following the launch of our partnership in early 2023. This is a public facility that registers more than 3,500 births each year and needs to refer many of these babies to other health facilities – including Kiwoko – to receive more specialist care.
The District Health Officer and Medical Superintendent at Luwero requested this partnership as they see the lives of too many women and newborns being needlessly lost.
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