MANISH MISHRA
Public Health Expert
Lucknow
Summary
Accomplished public health professional with over 9 years of progressive experience in maternal, newborn, and child health (MNCH) program management, quality assurance systems, and health systems strengthening. Expertise in designing and scaling evidence-based interventions across multiple states, including Assam and Uttar Pradesh, in collaboration with leading organizations such as UNICEF, IHAT, Nutrition International, and PHFI. Proven track record of achieving measurable health outcomes through effective multi-stakeholder coordination, facility quality improvement, and capacity building at both state and district levels. Technical proficiency includes LaQshya/NQAS certification, newborn care protocols, and maternal mortality reduction strategies aligned with National Health Mission objectives.
Overview
10
10
years of professional experience
3
3
Certifications
2
2
Languages
Work History
Consultant – NBSU Tele-Mentoring Program
India Health Action Trust (IHAT)
07.2025 - 07.2025
- Designed and piloted a virtual tele-training program for the Newborn Stabilization & Care Unit (NBSU) staff in Lucknow, enhancing pre-referral management and newborn survival outcomes through structured online skill development.
- Developed a comprehensive program toolkit, including SOPs, facilitator guidance notes, participant curricula, video repositories, and resource libraries, aligned with SNCU best practices.
- Facilitated multi-stakeholder coordination with SNCU mentors and district health officials to establish a monthly training calendar, and ensure program sustainability.
- Impact: The program model is positioned for state-level scaling to strengthen the neonatal care capacity of staff nurses posted across 400+ NBSU units.
State Specialist – Newborn and Child Health
India Health Action Trust (IHAT)
09.2023 - 06.2025
- Led the technical implementation of the Nurse Mentoring Program across intervention facilities, establishing 40+ mini-skill labs at the block level, with standardized protocols for labor room and newborn care.
- Coordinated LaQshya state-level certification process, conducting facility readiness assessments and supporting District/Women's Hospitals and CHCs through compliance pathway; achieved 70%+ readiness scores.
- Supported NBSU functionality strengthening through equipment provisioning, staff training, and FBNC portal optimization, improving pre-referral complication detection and management.
- Capacity building of Medical officer by state-level NSSK ToT, further cascaded training across 75 districts, and achieving 85% saturation of staff nurses and ANMs.
- Contributed to guideline development for a 3-month Pediatrics bridge course for Medical Officers; revised FIMNCI and NSSK training modules, incorporating the latest evidence.
- Strengthen the Maternal Anemia Management program.
- Strengthen referral pathway Vertical Integration (VI) Meetings at the district level with facility teams to review complicated cases (referrals, outcomes, delays), identify system gaps (transport delays, pre-referral managament, doccumentation ), and coordinate issues between facilities.
- Supported documentation and reporting, including data collation, preparation of program reports, success stories, and meeting briefs.
- Impact: Strengthened the quality continuum of care from the community to the tertiary level; reduced newborn referral complications through improved pre-stabilization practices.
State Maternal Health Consultant
UNICEF
08.2021 - 08.2022
- Developed a data-driven MMR reduction strategy for Assam, incorporating family planning integration; the state achieved a 25% MMR reduction (the highest performer among aspirational states) through targeted high home-delivery area interventions and improved HRP identification.
- Improved Maternal Death Surveillance & Response (MDSR) completion from 40% to 80% through systematic audit, case identification, digital tool rollout (MPCDSR), and SUMAN call center integration for real-time maternal death reporting.
- Strengthened PMSMA Day (Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyaan) implementation, improving high-risk pregnancy (HRP) identification for anemia, hypertension, preeclampsia, diabetes, etc.; submitted model PMSMA site concept note to MD NHM.
- Strengthen anemia management: IFA supply, IV iron sucrose, blood transfusion, with establishment of blood bank/storage units.
- Conducted state-level LaQshya and SUMAN assessments for labor room strengthening; provided technical inputs for 100+ facility improvements in antenatal care, emergency preparedness, and post-natal complication management.
- Capacity building of staff, district health officials, on maternal death review and zero-dose immunization at the facility level.
- Served as a State CRM (Common Review Mission) team member, providing technical support on maternal health strategy and program planning.
- Collected data and developed an action plan for the Nurse Practitioner Midwifery (NPM) rollout from nursing colleges to strengthen the specialist midwifery workforce.
- Coordinated emergency maternal health continuity during the COVID-19 crisis, ensuring uninterrupted access to skilled birth attendance and essential services.
- Impact: Assam transitioned from the highest MMR state to a significant performer; it improved the state MDSR dashboard transparency for real-time programmatic response.
State Consultant – Adarsh Project (DNB Accreditation)
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
03.2020 - 07.2021
- Led the DNB (Diplomate of National Board) specialist accreditation rollout in the District Hospitals of Uttar Pradesh, addressing the critical shortage of obstetric and pediatric specialists in maternal-newborn health delivery.
- Conducted comprehensive gap assessments in 30+ participating district hospitals, analyzing infrastructure, HR capacity, training capability, and case mix against NBE (National Board of Examinations) standards.
- Coordinated four-way partnership implementation (UP Government/NHM, NBE, PHFI, medical colleges) securing NBE approvals and facilitating successful assessments, enabling the admission of DNB residents.
- Integrated quality systems (LaQshya/NQAS) with DNB program rollout, ensuring participating DHs met certification standards, while building specialist teaching capacity.
- Facilitated workshops and training sessions with DH teams on NBE guidelines, resulting in improved assessment readiness and first-attempt pass rates.
- Established secondary node mentorship linkages with nearby medical colleges for library access, IEC support, and rotational clinical postings for DNB residents.
- Impact: Enabled sustainable specialist capacity development in aspirational districts; 26 districts are now running DNB Obstetrics programs, addressing MMR reduction objectives.
Divisional Coordinator – MNBC & IYCN Project
SWARG NGO (Nutrition International partner)
08.2018 - 03.2020
- Resolved district-level operational bottlenecks through technical input on labor room and OT strengthening per LaQshya guidelines, supported by rapid assessments, and field team coordination.
- Strengthened PMSMA Day platform for systematic HRP identification of pregnant women with anemia, hypertension, preeclampsia, and diabetes; improved case detection, and referral linkages.
- Strengthened anemia management: 20% improvement in IFA compliance with the T3 (Talk, Test, Treat) approach.
- Supported NBSU unit functionalization, including equipment procurement, staff induction training, and care protocol standardization for newborn complications (low birth weight, preterm, sepsis).
- Established KMC corners at 40+ facilities with dedicated space, trained staff, and family engagement protocols; tracked 500+ KMC cases through kangaroo care, with 95% success rates in maintaining thermoregulation and improving feeding.
- Facilitated NSSK training for delivery point staff nurses and ANMs across the Kanpur division, achieving competency certification for 400+ healthcare workers in newborn resuscitation and stabilization.
- Supported VHSND supervision for quality ANC, immunization services, birth planning, and family planning counseling.
- Strengthened HBNC (Home-Based Newborn Care) services for community-based management of sepsis, low birth weight, preterm birth, ARI, diarrhea, and malnutrition cases; improved post-discharge follow-up compliance to 85%.
- Capacity building of frontline workers (ANM, ASHA, AWW) on IYCN protocols; strengthened AAA (Anganwadi, ASHA, ANM) platform for integrated nutrition and health service delivery.
- Improved supply chain logistics through pharmacist mentoring on timely indenting and buffer stock maintenance, reducing medicine stock-outs by 40%.
- Impact: Improved maternal and newborn care continuum at the community and facility levels; reduced MMR and NMR through early complication detection and appropriate referral.
Hospital Quality Manager District Combined/Women's Hospital, Kanpur Dehat
Quality Assurance Program NHM Uttar Pradesh
06.2016 - 07.2018
- Implemented a comprehensive Quality Assurance Framework at a 100+ bed District Hospital, establishing a Quality Assurance Committee (QAC), and developing facility quality policy and SOPs for all clinical and support services.
- Led facility certification as per NQAS, LaQshya, and Kayakalp standards; achieved 95%+ readiness scores, and sustained certifications through quarterly internal audits, and continuous improvement cycles.
- Mentored over 100 hospital staff on quality protocols, patient safety, and continuous quality improvement; established a peer assessment mechanism for intra-hospital quality monitoring using checklists; implemented corrective action plans with defined timelines.
- Strengthened labor room quality per LaQshya standards, including partograph use, emergency obstetric protocols, complication detection, and post-natal complication prevention (PPH, eclampsia, sepsis management).
- Established performance dashboards tracking KPIs (maternal complications, newborn outcomes, patient satisfaction, infection rates, staff competency); used data for evidence-based continuous improvement.
- Coordinated with the CMO office and NHM for quality funding, staff training support, and external assessment scheduling; successfully facilitated the 2017 CRM (Common Review Mission) visit.
- Conducted peer assessments of over 50 district hospitals and community health centers across Uttar Pradesh; provided district-level training on quality standards, resulting in the Kayakalp Award for three facilities.
- Impact: Enhanced facility safety and quality reputation; improved patient satisfaction scores by 35%; reduced HAIs (hospital-acquired infections) by 28% through protocol standardization and staff compliance.
Block Coordinator – FBNC (Facility Based Newborn Care) Project
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
01.2016 - 03.2016
- Conducted a rapid assessment of 50+ delivery points (CHCs, PHCs, Sub-Centers) to evaluate Essential Newborn Care (ENBC) provision, post-natal maternal care practices, and complication management readiness.
- Collected and analyzed data on gaps in labor room setup, equipment availability, staff competency, and referral linkages; presented findings in a district-level workshop for program scaling recommendations.
- Facilitated field-level liaison with block health officials, supporting data collection, stakeholder engagement, and evidence-based advocacy for FBNC program expansion.
- Impact: Findings informed district-level FBNC implementation strategy covering 50+ delivery points.
Education
Master in Public Health -
University of Lucknow
Uttar Pradesh01.2025
PG Diploma in Healthcare Quality Management - undefined
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
Mumbai01.2018
PG Diploma in Public Health Management - undefined
Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH)
Delhi01.2015
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery - undefined
Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University
Varanasi01.2014
Skills
Technical Expertise: MNCH program design & scaling, Quality Assurance (NQAS/LaQshya/Kayakalp), NSSK training & newborn care, KMC establishment & operationalization, MDSR, Facility assessments, Labor room strengthening & EOC, HMIS analysis & KPI monitoring
Program Management: Multi-stakeholder coordination, Cross-functional team management, Guideline & SOP development, Capacity building & training facilitation, Field supervision & supportive monitoring
Soft Skills: Strategic stakeholder engagement, Team leadership & mentoring, Problem-solving & decision-making, Excellent communication, Project management, Technical documentation, Report writing
Certification
NQAS Internal Assessor, State Institute of Health & Family Welfare (SIHFW), Uttar Pradesh | 2017
Training
- Workshop on Leadership and Communication Skills Development, Vishwa Yuvak Kendra, New Delhi, 2019-01-01
- Workshop on Project Management in Public Health Nutrition, NIT Raurkela, Odisha, 2019-01-01
- Orientation Program on Complementary Feeding – Technical and Operational Aspects, Lucknow, 2019-01-01
Technical Skills
MS Word, MS Excel (pivot tables, data visualization), MS PowerPoint, Google Sheets, HMIS (Health Management Information System), MANAV SAMPADA, FBNC Portal.
References
- Dr. Renu Srivastava, Strategy Director – Newborn and Child Health, India Health Action Trust (IHAT), Lucknow, +91-9810907514, renu.srivastava@ihat.in
- Prof. Dr. Rajesh Nair, Director, Adarsh Project, Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI), Delhi, +91-9818885803, rajesh.nair@phfi.org
Timeline
Consultant – NBSU Tele-Mentoring Program
India Health Action Trust (IHAT)
07.2025 - 07.2025
State Specialist – Newborn and Child Health
India Health Action Trust (IHAT)
09.2023 - 06.2025
State Maternal Health Consultant
UNICEF
08.2021 - 08.2022
State Consultant – Adarsh Project (DNB Accreditation)
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
03.2020 - 07.2021
Divisional Coordinator – MNBC & IYCN Project
SWARG NGO (Nutrition International partner)
08.2018 - 03.2020
Hospital Quality Manager District Combined/Women's Hospital, Kanpur Dehat
Quality Assurance Program NHM Uttar Pradesh
06.2016 - 07.2018
Block Coordinator – FBNC (Facility Based Newborn Care) Project
Public Health Foundation of India (PHFI)
01.2016 - 03.2016
PG Diploma in Healthcare Quality Management - undefined
Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS)
PG Diploma in Public Health Management - undefined
Indian Institute of Public Health (IIPH)
Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine & Surgery - undefined
Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University
Master in Public Health -
University of Lucknow