Maternal and Infant Mortality -Policy and Interventions, A Report of an International Workshop at the AKU,

Agha Khan University (AKU)
supported by NIH, UNICEF and World Bank, 1994

This report includes a number of papers on maternal and infant mortality with a particular focus on Pakistan. It includes data from maternal and infant mortality surveys, hospital based studies and Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS). It looks into the clinical as well as the social causes along with the government of Pakistan's policy on maternal and child health. Some papers also explore various options of intervention strategies, including sharing of experiences of Matlab in Bangladesh and government functioning health care model implemented in Iran. This workshop report highlights the significant risk factors of inadequate water supply, unsanitary conditions, short birth spacing and previous child deaths. The findings presented in the workshop suggest that intervention strategies should now be focused on neonatal and prenatal mortality as well as monitoring and supervision of birth attendants. Furthermore for improving maternal mortality there is need for public awareness raising and monitoring, supervision and accountability of the birth attendants.

Key words: Maternal mortality, Infant Mortality, Birth Attendants.