Children and women in urban informal settlements have fewer choices to access quality maternal and newborn health care.

This study sought to increase provider capacity by equipping them with skills to provide general and emergency obstetric and newborn care in 24 facilities serving two informal settlements in Nairobi.

We present evidence of the combined effect of mentorship using facility-based mentors who demonstrate skills, support skills drills training, and provide practical feedback to mentees and a self-guided online learning platform with easily accessible EmONC information on providers’ smart phones.

This study adds to the literature on building capacity of providers delivering Maternal and Newborn Health (MNH) services to women in informal settlements.