Skilled birth attendance-lessons learnt
Adegoke, A.A.; van den Broek, N.
Bjog An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 116(Suppl 1): 33-40
2009
ISSN/ISBN: 1471-0528 PMID: 19740170 DOI: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.2009.02336.xDocument Number: 209088
To reduce the horrific maternal mortality figures that we have globally especially in resource poor countries, there was a global commitment to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015 using 1990 as a baseline. To measure the achievement of this goal, two indicators: maternal mortality ratio and proportion of births attended by skilled attendance were selected. To ensure skilled attendance at birth for all women, the international community set a target of 80% by 2005, 85% by 2010 and 90% coverage by 2015. However, in 2008 only 65.7% of all women were attended to by a skilled attendant during pregnancy, childbirth and immediately postpartum globally with some countries having less than 20% coverage. With the global human resource crisis, achieving this target is challenging but possible. This paper provides a narrative review of the literature on the skilled birth attendance strategy identifying key challenges and lessons learnt.
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