Maternal Mortality in Bangladesh

Bangladesh not only achieved the primary target of Millennium Development Goal (MDG) 5 of improving maternal health by 2015 but also it is the only low-income or middle-income country with two large, nationally-representative, high-quality household surveys focused on the measurement of maternal mortality and service use. The decrease in Maternal Mortality Rate in Bangladesh seems to have been the result of factors both within and outside the health sector. This finding holds important lessons for other countries as the world discusses and decides on the post-MDG goals and strategies. For Bangladesh, this case study provides a strong rationale for the pursuit of a broader developmental agenda alongside increased and accelerated investments in improving access to and quality of public and private health-care facilities providing maternal health in Bangladesh.

Reference:

El Arifeen, S., Hill, K., Ahsan, K. Z., Jamil, K., Nahar, Q., & Streatfield, P. K. (2014). Maternal mortality in Bangladesh: a Countdown to 2015 country case study. The Lancet, 384(9951), 1366-1374.

http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(14)60955-7/abstract