This dataset was used in a facility-based cross-sectional analysis in which we (1) measured facility readiness to manage common obstetric emergencies using the clinical cascades and signal function tracers; (2) compared these readiness estimates by facility characteristics; and (3) measured cascading drop-offs in resources.

Data were collected in 2016 from 23 hospitals (10 designated comprehensive emergency obstetric care (CEmOC) facilities) in Migori County, western Kenya, and Busoga Region, eastern Uganda, in the Preterm Birth Initiative (PTBi) study in East Africa. Research assistants used standardised forms to visually identify emergency resources during the on-site physical inventory of resources. They captured data about facility characteristics, obstetric drugs, consumable supplies, durable goods and the presence of emergency guidelines and protocols. Researchers recorded both the presence/absence of the item and its location (ie, unit). In this analysis, we used a resource’s presence or absence at the facility level to estimate facility-level readiness regardless of the unit in which the items were located.

Baseline data were used to estimate a facility’s readiness to manage common obstetric emergencies using WHO’s Service Readiness Index (SRI)/signal function tracers and the clinical cascade model. We compared emergency readiness using the proportion of facilities with tracers (signal functions) and the proportion with resources for identifying and treating the emergency (cascade stages 1 and 2).