Improvement of maternal and newborn health through midwifery

This article is the fourth in the Lancet Midwifery series. After drawing out key messages from each of the three previous articles in the Series, the authors discuss the challenges inherent in acting upon these findings. These challenges include a rising number of births and pregnancies in Africa and the need to improve productivity while prioritising all aspects of quality care.In order to help address these challenges, three priority research areas are discussed:  tracking and improving retention of the health workforce, increasing and benchmarking productivity on a context-specific basis, and managing commercialisation of childbirth while curbing over-medicalisation.The authors also discuss the need to scale-up midwifery care while improving quality of care, as defined by the framework laid out in the first paper of the Series. This implies not only a need for better education and regulation, but also for stronger partnership between providers and communities.The authors conclude that midwifery can make a crucial contribution to reaching universal and effective coverage of woman-centred care, and will therefore be instrumental in reaching the ambitious RMNH (reproductive, maternal and newborn health) goals and targets of the post-2015 era.To read the article click here. Free registration is required.To read the other articles in the Series click here. ten Hoope-Bender, P., de Bernis, L. Campbell, J. Downe, S. Fauveau, V. Fogstad, H., Homer, C.S.E., Powell Kennedy, H. Matthews, Z. McFadden, A., Renfrew, M..J., & Van Lerberghe, W. (2014). Improvement of maternal and newborn health through midwifery. The Lancet (Early online publication).