Each year, about 210 million women become pregnant and about 140 million newborn babies are delivered. The sheer scale of maternal health issues makes maternal well being and survival vital concerns. A decade after The Lancet published a Series on maternal survival, a new Series of six papers brings our knowledge of maternal health, its epidemiology, successes, and current failings together, and at a crucial time within the sustainable development framework to 2030. The Series concludes with a call to action setting out five key targets which need to be met to ensure the progression of broader sustainable development goals (SDGs).
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- Maternal health: time for a radical reappraisal
- Quality, equity, and dignity for women and babies
- Implementation and aspiration gaps: whose view counts?
World Report
Perspectives
Series
- Diversity and divergence: the dynamic burden of poor maternal health
- Beyond too little, too late and too much, too soon: a pathway towards evidence-based, respectful maternity care worldwide
- The scale, scope, coverage, and capability of childbirth care
- Drivers of maternity care in high-income countries: can health systems support woman-centred care?
- Next generation maternal health: external shocks and health-system innovations
- Quality maternity care for every woman, everywhere: a call to action