Maternal Mortality Interventions: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Background: In order to achieve the World Health Organization's Millennium Development Goal of reducing maternal mortality by three quarters by 2015, a strong global commitment is needed to address this issue in low-income nations where the risk to women is greatest. A comprehensive international effort must include provision of obstetric and general medical care as well as community-based interventions, with an emphasis on the latter in nations where the majority of women deliver babies at home without a trained attendant. Methods: This systematic analysis evaluates interventions published in Medline and CINAHL whose outcome measure is maternal mortality. Analysis includes components of the intervention, nation and maternal death rates. Results: Nine studies documented the effectiveness of various clinical and community-based interventions, including specific drug regimens and procedures, in reducing the risk of maternal death. Six studies reported interventions that did not significantly alter maternal mortality outcomes, and the intervention in one study demonstrated increased risk of maternal death. Conclusion: The dearth of evidence highlights the need for increased focus on translational research that bridges the gap between medical advances and community-based interventions that are feasible in low-income nations. This cannot be accomplished without a stronger commitment to reducing maternal mortality by global health practitioners and researchers.

Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health in South Asia: Drivers and Enablers

“…It did not show much effect on neonatal mortality and did not study impact on maternal mortality (Azad et al 2010). Several systematic reviews focus in part or completely on community-based interventions because, they argue, these have the potential to improve outcomes by increasing the Improving Maternal and Reproductive Health in South Asia http://dx.doi.org/10.1596/978-1-4648-0963-7 standard of care outside facilities or by improving care-seeking behavior access to facility-level care (Gilmore and McAuliffe 2013;Kidney et al 2009;Lassi and Bhutta 2015;Piane 2009;Piane and Clinton 2014). These reviews find evidence that suggest community-level interventions can reduce maternal mortality and that benefits may extend across the continuum of care.…”

Nesa Days 2015, Conference Report

“…Institute of Physics and Technology (MIPT), Russia, presented an investigation on the impact of translational research on women's mortality rate, linked to emergency conditions in obstetrics & gynecology [58]. This study aimed to present a historical overview of the impact of translational research on women's mortality rate due to emergency conditions in gynecology such as ectopic pregnancy, adnexal torsion, acute pelvic inflammatory diseases and other acute conditions required an emergency surgery and intensive care.…”