Introduction
Ethiopia has high maternal and neonatal mortality and low use of skilled maternity care. The Maternal and Newborn Health in Ethiopia Partnership (MaNHEP), a 3.5-year learning project, used a community collaborative quality improvement approach to improve maternal and newborn health care during the birth-to-48-hour period. This study examines how the promotion of community maternal and newborn health (CMNH) family meetings and labor and birth notification contributed to increased postnatal care within 48 hours by skilled providers or health extension workers.

Methods
Baseline and endline surveys, monthly quality improvement data, and MaNHEP's CMNH change package, a compendium of the most effective changes developed and tested by communities, were reviewed. Logistic regression assessed factors associated with postnatal care receipt. Monthly postnatal care receipt was plotted with control charts.

Results
The baseline (n = 1027) and endline (n = 1019) surveys showed significant increases in postnatal care, from 5% to 51% and from 15% to 47% in the Amhara and Oromiya regions, respectively (both P < .001). Notification of health extension workers for labor and birth within 48 hours was closely linked with receipt of postnatal care. Women with any antenatal care were 1.7 times more likely to have had a postnatal care visit (odds ratio [OR], 1.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.10-2.54; P < .001). Women who had additionally attended 2 or more CMNH meetings with family members and had access to a health extension worker's mobile phone number were 4.9 times more likely to have received postnatal care (OR, 4.86; 95% CI, 2.67-8.86; P < .001).