Bulletin of the World Health Organization · 2013 · 294 citations · 8 references
Public HealthHealth PolicyMaternal HealthMaternal Health PolicyMaternal MortalityWomen's HealthMaternal EpidemiologyMaternal Health EpidemiologyMaternal Health PreventionMaternal MorbidityMaternal Mortality MeasurementPregnancyMaternal Disease BurdenMaternal Health AssessmentMaternal Health DeterminantsMaternal Morbidity EpidemiologyMaternal Morbidity MeasurementMaternal Mortality IndicatorsPregnancy-related Mortality RatePregnancy-related Mortality Ratio
A reduction in maternal mortality has traditionally been used as a critical measure of progress in improving maternal health. If a 75% reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015 – the target set under Millennium Development Goal 5 – is to be attained, we must redouble our efforts. In this endeavour, governments, policy-makers, donors, researchers, civil society and other stakeholders have come together in unprecedented fashion. Yet despite the fact that the maternal mortality ratio is considered one of the main indicators of a country’s status in the area of maternal health, the burden of maternal mortality is only a small fraction of the burden of maternal morbidity – the health problems borne by women during pregnancy and the postpartum period.
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