Maternal mortality: levels, causes and promising interventions

Abstract

About two-thirds of the world's population live in areas where registration of vital statistics is unsatisfactory (Tietze, 1977), and in many countries such statistics from rural areas are unavailable or grossly underestimated (WHO, 1971). Most of the women who die in pregnancy and childbirth are poor and live in remote areas or city slums. Their deaths are accorded little importance and fail to enter registers.

The inequality of maternal health care in urban sub‐Saharan Africa in the 1990s

“…Many studies that compare the availability of health services between rural and urban areas highlight the plight of rural areas. This is because most income-earning opportunities and the major hospitals that consume a disproportionately large component of the overall health budget are concentrated in cities and big towns (Kwast 1989). For instance, it has been estimated that in some countries about 75 per cent of the health budget is used to fund hospitals, most of which are located in urban areas, while 25 per cent goes to primary health-care services that serve rural residents (Biddulph 1993).…”

Functional Consequences of Adult Malnutrition in Developing Countries: A Review.

“…Birth weight and post-natal growth performance are correlated with maternal weight and height (Mata, 1978). Maternal height is a predictor of maternal mortality, through association with pregnancies before linear growth has ceased and with cephalo-pelvic disproportion (Kwast, 1989). The large investment of energy in pregnancy arguably explains why lactation is unaffected across a wide range of BMI (Prentice, 1994).…”

Midwives' role in safe motherhood

“…Intercountry comparisons are difficult and may be grossly misleading, because different definitions both for numerators and denominators of MMRs are used (3). One such example is abortion‐related mortality.…”