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In January 2004, an expanded Partnership for Safe Motherhood and Newborn Health was established with the aim of promoting the health of women and newborns, especially the most vulnerable. Expanding the scope of the global Safe Motherhood Initiative and building on the work of the Safe Motherhood Inter-Agency Group, the Partnership aims to strengthen maternal and newborn health efforts at the global, regional, and national levels, in the context of equity, poverty reduction, and human rights.

The Partnership is a result of a consultative process, initiated in 2002, among a diverse group of international development agencies and organisations to promote greater attention to, and resources for, safe motherhood and newborn health.

Focusing on the areas of advocacy/information-sharing, technical advancement, and country-level support and partnership, the Partnership undertakes the following activities:

Implementing an advocacy/media strategy to refocus global attention to improving the health of women and newborns in developing countries;
Stimulating national-level commitment to make safe motherhood/newborn health a priority within national development plans and aid requests;
Promoting effective interventions to improve the application of technical knowledge and research findings.
For additional information on the structure, membership, and objectives of the Partnership, please click here

Safe Motherhood
Every minute of every day, somewhere in the world and most often in a developing country, a woman dies from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth. That is 515,000 women, at a minimum, dying every year. Nearly all maternal deaths (99 percent) occur in the developing world--making maternal mortality the health statistic with the largest disparity between developed and developing countries.

For every woman who dies, 30 to 50 women suffer injury, infection, or disease. Pregnancy-related complications are among the leading causes of death and disability for women age 15-49 in developing countries.

When a mother dies, children lose their primary caregiver, communities are denied her paid and unpaid labour, and countries forego her contributions to economic and social development. A woman's death is more than a personal tragedy--it represents an enormous cost to her nation, her community, and her family. Any social and economic investment that has been made in her life is lost. Her family loses her love, her nurturing, and her productivity inside and outside the home.

More than a decade of research has shown that small and affordable measures can significantly reduce the health risks that women face when they become pregnant. Most maternal deaths could be prevented if women had access to appropriate health care during pregnancy, childbirth, and immediately afterwards.

Safe motherhood means ensuring that all women receive the care they need to be safe and healthy throughout pregnancy and childbirth.

Newborn Health and Survival
Each year, approximately 4 million newborn infants die during the first month of life, and an additional 4 million are stillborn- most of these deaths are due to infection, asphyxia and birth injuries, and complications of premature birth. Low birth weight contributes to newborn death in about 40-80% of cases. Nearly all of these newborn deaths occur in developing countries, and most of these deaths can be prevented if good-quality is available.

Newborn health and survival are closely linked to the health of the mother before and during pregnancy, as well as during labour, childbirth, and the postpartum period. Key interventions for improving newborn health include: ensuring a skilled attendant at every birth; tetanus toxoid immunization; and immediate and exclusive breastfeeding.

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The principles and polices of each agency are governed by the relevant decisions of each agency's governing body. Each agency implements the interventions described in this document in accordance with these principles and policies and within the scope of its mandate.