Maternal and neonatal mortality: time to act

Maternal, infant, and neonatal mortality rate are benchmarks for maternal/infant care and the health of a society in general.Global efforts to reduce these mortality rates have been led by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations; the rates have decreased substantially worldwide, but the ambitious reductions set forth by the Millennium Development Goals have not been achieved.Maternal mortality has decreased by approximately 45% from the Millennium Development Goals baseline rate in 1990. 1 One in four babies worldwide are delivered without the presence of a skilled birth attendant.Every day, hundreds of preventable maternal deaths occur due to pregnancy or childbirth-related complications.Infant mortality rates have decreased in developing countries, but these reductions have been largely due to decreases in deaths from pneumonia and diarrheal disease after the neonatal period, while earlier deaths relating to prematurity, birth asphyxia, and infection have experienced a lower decrease.2 As a consequence, neonatal deaths now account for 44% of the childhood mortality, the highest rate ever. 2 Approximately 2.8 million babies worldwide die each year during the first month after birth; most of these deaths occur in developing countries.2 Scaling up interventions proven to be very effective could substantially reduce the regrettable loss of young lives.