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Maternal Health
Every country that has achieved low maternal mortality
has developed a systematic approach involving
skilled attendants for routine delivery, emergency
obstetric care to treat complications, and referral and
transport systems that ensure access to life-saving care.
Upgrading medical facilities so that women will
seek care and expanding services where they are
overloaded are among the first steps in preventing
maternal death and disability. Particular attention
must be given to reaching the poor, populations isolated
by location and those affected by war and
natural disasters.
Mobilizing families, communities and nations to
support women during pregnancy and childbirth,
through strengthened policy, legislative and regulatory
frameworks for maternal health, is also crucial.(22)
Family planning is also critical to reducing maternal
mortality and morbidity. Satisfying the existing
unmet need for contraception would reduce pregnancies
worldwide, causing maternal mortality to drop by
25-35 per cent.(23) Reducing adolescent pregnancies
would also have an important impact.
Strategies to reduce maternal mortality also need
the support of broader efforts to address women’s
health, among them better nutrition for women and
girls to build resistance and avoid anaemia, combating
infectious diseases such as malaria, and averting
violence. Reproductive health interventions promote
the health and survival of infants and provide an
important link between goals for child and
maternal health.
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