Maternal and infant mortality are basic health indicators that reflect a nation's health status. In the United States, infant mortality has declined steadily; however, this is not true for maternal mortality. This report presents data from death certificates compiled by CDC's National Center for Health Statistics, which indicate that in the United States, the annual maternal mortality ratio rem...

The neonatal, infant, child, and maternal mortality rates in Haiti are the highest in the Western Hemisphere, with rates similar to those found in Afghanistan and several African countries. We identify several factors that have perpetuated this health care crisis and summarize the literature highlighting the most cost-effective, evidence-based interventions proved to decrease these mortality ra...

BACKGROUND There are large differences in pregnancy outcome between high income countries and many middle and low income countries. In fact, maternal, fetal and neonatal mortality rates in many low-income countries approximate those that were seen in high-income countries nearly a century ago. FINDINGS This paper documents the very substantial reductions in maternal, fetal and neonatal mortal...

Improving the quality of obstetric care is an urgent priority in developing countries, where maternal mortality remains high. The feasibility of criterion-based clinical audit of the assessment and management of five major obstetric complications is being studied in Ghana and Jamaica. In order to establish case definitions and clinical audit criteria, a systematic review of the literature was f...

This article describes maternal mortality trends in São Paulo, Brazil, from 1960 through 1990. In so doing, it compares mortality rates derived from death certificate data with rates suggested by three independent surveys conducted in the city of São Paulo in 1962-1963, 1974-1975, and 1986. In general, these data indicate that a substantial share of all maternal deaths in the city have been asc...

BACKGROUND In China, with the urbanization, women migrated from rural to big cities presented much higher maternal mortality rates than local residents. Health knowledge is one of the key factors enabling women to be aware of their rights and health status in order to seek appropriate health services. This study aims to assess the knowledge and attitude on maternal health care and the contribut...

Over the past 20 years, we have seen global reductions in maternal mortality and gains in early childhood survival [1]. As world leaders are now increasingly focused on achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to ensure that all women, girls, and adolescents have equal chances of surviving and thriving, it is timely for us as funders to use our collective voice to heighten glo...

This study presents estimates of maternal mortality for India from two indirect procedures, the sisterhood method and a regression method involving sex differentials in adult mortality, and compares them with estimates available from other sources. The sisterhood method is applied to the data collected in a human development survey that covered all rural areas of India in 1994, while the latter...

OBJECTIVE The successful implementation of programmes to reduce maternal mortality is constrained by a 'know-do' gap: the disparity between what is known and the application of that knowledge in policy and practice. This study identified innovations, practices and ideas aimed to improve project and programme implementation. DESIGN Cross-sectional. SETTING Five South Asian countries: Afghani...