Current challenges in pregnancy-related mortality

Pregnancy is a normal, healthy state that most women are desirous for at some point in their lives. This physiological, life-affirming process, however, carries serious risks of death and disability (for both mother and offspring), and has tremendous implications for families, communities and economies worldwide. The alarming pregnancy-related mortality rates (particularly in developing countries) are repeated so often that they cease to cause surprise. Despite the fact that 80% of all maternal deaths are preventable, the promise to reduce maternal deaths by 75% before 2015 is still a distant target with little progress made in the past 10 years. Identification of the key challenges in understanding, managing and reducing maternal mortality needs to be prioritized and promoted among different members of the healthcare community, including care providers, researchers and policy makers.