An overview of advances in global maternal health: From broad to specific improvements

Abstract

After the declaration of the Millennium Development Goals in 2000 by the United Nations, many stakeholders allocated financial resources to “global maternal health.” Research to expand care and improve delivery of maternal health services has exponentially increased. The present article highlights an overview, namely 10 of the health system, clinical, and technology‐based advancements that have occurred in the past three decades in the field of global maternal health. The list of topics has been selected through the cumulative clinical and public health expertise of the authors and is certainly not exhaustive. Rather, the list is intended to provide a mapping of key topics arranged from broad to specific that span from the global policy level to the level of individual care. The list of health system, clinical, and technology‐based advancements include: (10) Millennium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals; (9) Development of clinical training programs, including the potential for subspecialty development; (8) Prenatal care expansion and potential; (7) Decentralized health systems, including the use of skilled birth attendants; (6) Antiretroviral therapy for HIV; (5) Essential medicines; (4) Vaccines; (3) mHealth/eHealth; (2) Ultrasonography; and (1) Obstetric hemorrhage management. With the Sustainable Development Goals now underway, the field must build upon past successes to sustain maternal and neonatal well‐being in the future global health agenda.

Growth model for international academic medicine partnerships: Qualitative analysis of Ghana postgraduate Ob/Gyn training program

“…Subspecialty training is an opportunity to further complete the maternal care team and broaden the spectrum of available care to include women's health issues across the lifespan and beyond maternal health [10]. Yet, before the advent of these subspecialization programs, generalists have conducted research in their subspecialty area of interest to advance their skills and knowledge.…”

“…Subspecialty training broadens the care spectrum to include women's healthcare across the lifespan and beyond maternal health [9]. Subspecialty training programs in gynecologic oncology, urogynecology, and reproductive medicine have recently begun in SSA countries [10][11][12][13]. Similarly in Ghana, subspecialty training in family planning, urogynecology, maternal-fetal medicine, and gynecologic oncology are in development.…”

Maternal mortality in adolescents and young adults: temporal trend and correlation with prenatal care coverage in the state of Bahia, Brazil, 2000-2020

“… 29 ),( 30 Given this reality, it is worth highlighting the need for sustainability of the strategies implemented by the SUS, at the national and regional levels, in order to ensure access and adequacy of health care. 27 ),( 30 …”

“…These gaps may hinder estimates of indicators in this population group, reaffirming the need for investments in the epidemiological surveillance sector of the health system aimed at data capture and registration.The findings reinforce the importance of investments targeting the maternal and child population, especially in deprived regions and among the most vulnerable segments, in line with the SDG target, which proposes to reduce the global MMR to < 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in the period between 2016 and 2030. 7 ),( 30 …”

“…29,30 Given this reality, it is worth highlighting the need for sustainability of the strategies implemented by the SUS, at the national and regional levels, in order to ensure access and adequacy of health care. 27,30 There is a consensus in the world literature that maternal mortality reflects the socioeconomic status, in addition to the coverage and quality of health care provided to a population, representing one of the most sensitive indicators of human and social development. 2,30 However, despite advances in the quality of obstetric care, improvement in the coverage of Health Information Systems (HIS) and the implementation of the Maternal Mortality Committees (MMC) at the national level, maternal mortality during pregnancy and postpartum period remains high, making its reduction, a goal to be addressed by the SUS.…”