Experts in maternal health have identified five

key critical areas for improving Maternal

Mortality Rates: human rights, empowerment of
women, education, socio-economic development
and the improvement of health systems (7). In
addition, several in-depth studies at the
community level have determined that the most
critical of all the factors is access to quality
maternity care before, during and after childbirth.
The World Health Organization recommends the
following to help reduce maternal mortality
across the world (8):

1)Better resource management and efficient

application of existing knowledge to provide
proper maternal care, including basic care
during and after pregnancy and adequate and
timely specialized care.

2)Income and gender equality and community

empowerment to strengthen community
involvement in using indigenous knowledge,
participating in education, training and
research, and improving primary health care
skills.