Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative Programme: A Comprehensive Review

The Labour Room Quality Improvement Initiative (LaQshya) programme, launched by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare in December 2017, represents a transformative approach to enhancing the quality of intrapartum and immediate postnatal care across public health facilities.With approximately 46% of maternal deaths and 40% of newborn deaths occurring during the peripartum period, quality improvement in labour rooms and maternity operation theaters (OTs) is critical for achieving India's maternal and neonatal mortality reduction targets.This comprehensive review examines the LaQshya programme's objectives, components, implementation framework, and assessment criteria across seven critical domains: Infrastructure and facility management, clinical care protocols, infection prevention and control (IPC), equipment and consumables availability, patient satisfaction and respectful maternity care (RMC), teamwork and governance, and data management systems.The programme integrates evidence-based interventions with continuous quality improvement (CQI) methodologies, emphasizing teambased care, emergency preparedness, and data-driven decision-making.The case study of Calcutta National Medical College demonstrates the feasibility of achieving exceptional quality improvements even in resource-constrained settings with heritage infrastructure, achieving 97.50% in the labour room and 90.83% in the OT-the highest scores in West Bengal during the assessment cycle.The LaQshya initiative exemplifies a paradigm shift toward quality-focused maternal health care, supporting India's commitment to Sustainable Development (SDG) Goal 3, the India Newborn Action Plan (INAP), and the National Quality Assurance Standards.This review synthesizes current evidence on the programme's achievements, impact on maternal and neonatal outcomes, alignment with global health priorities, and lessons learned from implementation across diverse facility settings.