Skip main navigation

New lower prices! Get up to 50% off 1000s of courses. 

Explore courses

Strategies to reduce maternal mortality

Video describing strategies to reduce maternal mortality, including the three delays model.

What skills, tests, and drugs do we need to reduce maternal mortality? How might we organise services to provide this care, and what other strategies are needed?

It’s important to remember there is no single solution to reduce the number of maternal deaths, and in this step Professor Oona Campbell draws attention to a variety of both routine and complication-focused interventions and approaches.

Reflecting on the Three Delays

The Three Delays Model1 considers three different and associated barriers women might face in accessing the timely and effective care needed to prevent death during pregnancy and childbirth. These are delays in:

  • the decision to seek care
  • identifying and reaching a health facility
  • receiving appropriate treatment.

We’ll return to what each of these delays can mean and their associated consequences later in the week. Can you think of any physical, social, or health system-related factors that might play a part in each of these types of delays?

This article is from the free online

Improving the Health of Women, Children and Adolescents: from Evidence to Action

Created by
FutureLearn - Learning For Life

Reach your personal and professional goals

Unlock access to hundreds of expert online courses and degrees from top universities and educators to gain accredited qualifications and professional CV-building certificates.

Join over 18 million learners to launch, switch or build upon your career, all at your own pace, across a wide range of topic areas.

Start Learning now