In 1921 there was little provision for the care of the pregnant woman in Northern Ireland where there were only two hospitals staffed by specialist obstetricians. The mortality statistics reflected this, the province having the highest maternal mortality and the second highest infant mortality rates in the United Kingdom. There was little progress until the establishment of the National Health ...

BACKGROUND Despite the worldwide commitment to improving maternal health, measuring, monitoring and comparing maternal mortality estimates remain a challenge. Due to lack of data, international agencies have to rely on mathematical models to assess its global burden. In order to assist in mapping the burden of reproductive ill-health, we conducted a systematic review of incidence/prevalence of ...

BACKGROUND Despite progress made by other countries worldwide in achieving Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 4, 5 and 6, South Africa is experiencing a challenge in attaining positive outcomes for these goals. OBJECTIVE AND SETTING To describe the challenges experienced by South Africa regarding the successful implementation of MDGs 4, 5 and 6. METHODS An integrative literature review was...

Women continue to die from pregnancy-related causes at an alarming rate. Maternal mortality was first called a neglected epidemic in 1985, but to date, no significant improvements have been realized. Great disparity exists as lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy is 1 in 26 in Africa, 1 in 7300 in high-income areas. The UN Millennium Development Goals call for a 75% reduction in maternal mortal...

Triennially, since 1954, the Ministry of Health has issued a Report concerning maternal deaths which occurred in England and Wales during the previous three years. The current Report on Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in England and Wales, 1964-66* makes depressing reading for anaesthetists. Virtually alone of the factors associated with maternal deaths, the number applied to anaest...

OBJECTIVE Maternal mortality reduction is a Millennium Development Goal. In Colombia, there is a large disparity in the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) between and into departments (states) and also between municipalities. We examined socioeconomics variables at the municipal and departmental levels which could be associated to the municipal maternal mortality in Colombia. METHODS A multilevel...

BACKGROUND Egypt's longstanding commitment to safe motherhood and maternal health has paid off in substantial declines in maternal mortality ratio and significant improvement in the levels of many maternal health indicators. The current study aims to monitor trends of maternal health indicators and their socioeconomic inequities among Egyptian women over ten-year period (1995-2005). It poses th...

Investment in children is compelling for several reasons. First, children lie at the heart of international commitments to social justice. International forums, such as the International Conference on Population and Development, World Summit for Children, International Conference on Nutrition, Education for All Initiative, and Beijing Conference on Women, have a common theme: support for the ec...

The Confidential Enquiries into Maternal Deaths in England and Wales are unique in British medicine in that they appraise systematically the results of medical work. The original enquiry was started in 1928, but was completely revised in 1952, since when there have been 10 reports covering a period of 30 years. Each maternal death is reviewed carefully to ascertain if additional or different ac...

In Europe, different studies have identified immigrant women coming from developing countries as a risk group for maternal death. In Spain, an ecological study showed higher maternal mortality rates among foreign mothers compared with Spanish mothers during 2003-04. To examine whether the maternal death risk among foreign mothers in Spain is increased, we performed a population-based matched ca...