Current challenges in pregnancy-related mortality

Pregnancy is a normal, healthy state that most women are desirous for at some point in their lives. Sadly, this life-affirming process carries serious risks of death and disability for both mother and offspring. Maternal mortality rates are especially high in resource poor countries, despite the fact that 80% of all maternal deaths are preventable. Although maternal mortality is slowly declining, the goal of reducing maternal deaths to a quarter of the 1990 levels, before 2015, remains a challenging target. To achieve this target, care providers, researchers and policy makers must not only identify the key barriers to accessing quality healthcare, but commit to making maternal health a priority.