About the study
WHO conducted the largest study to date assessing severe complications and ‘near misses’ in pregnancy. The WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health found that ‘essential interventions’ – simple treatments which are indispensable for effective maternal care, such as providing uterotonics for preventing postpartum haemorrhage, or magnesium sulphate for eclampsia – do not necessarily reduce maternal mortality in health care facilities which provide them.
The study examined data from more than 300 000 women attending 359 health care facilities in 29 countries and determined how many pregnant women had a severe maternal outcome (defined as either maternal death or a near miss), as well as the coverage of
essential interventions in the health care facilities studied.
Methodology and tools
- WHO multicountry survey on maternal and newborn health: study protocol
BMC Health Services Research 2011 - Evaluating the quality of care for severe pregnancy complications
WHO guide, 2011 - WHO maternal near-miss approach and the maternal severity index model (MSI): tools for assessing the management of severe maternal morbidity.
PLoS One. 2012
Participating countries and territories (29)
Afghanistan, Angola, Argentina, Brazil Cambodia, China, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ecuador, India, Japan, Jordan Kenya, Lebanon, Mexico, Mongolia, Nepal, Nicaragua, Niger, Nigeria, occupied Palestinian territory, Pakistan, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Qatar, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uganda, Viet Nam.
Maternal severity index (MSI) calculator
This simple calculator is designed to facilitate the use of the Maternal Severity Index (MSI). Just tick the conditions present in clinical cases and obtain the MSI. This is a useful tool for health services benchmarking and research.
- MSI calculator
xlsx, 37kb
Journal articles
2016
Twin Pregnancy and Severe Maternal Outcomes: The World Health Organization Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health
Obstet Gynecol. 2016 Apr;127(4):631-41.
doi: 10.1097/AOG.0000000000001338.
Optimal Timing of Delivery among Low-Risk Women with Prior Caesarean Section: A Secondary Analysis of the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health
PLoS One. 2016 Feb 11;11(2):e0149091.
2015
Searching for the definition of macrosomia through an outcome-based approach in low- and middle-income countries: a secondary analysis of the WHO Global Survey in Africa, Asia and Latin America
BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth 2015, 15:324 doi:10.1186/s12884-015-0765-z - Published: 3 December 2015
Obstetric transition in the World Health Organization Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health: exploring pathways for maternal mortality reduction
Rev Panam Salud Publica.
2015;37(4/5):203–10.
Short Maternal Stature Increases Risk of Small-for-Gestational-Age and Preterm Births in Low- and Middle-Income Countries: Individual Participant Data Meta-Analysis and Population Attributable Fraction
J. Nutr. 2015 145: 11 2542-2550; first published online September 30, 2015.
A global reference for caesarean section rates (C-Model): a multicountry cross-sectional study
BJOG - Article first published online:
10 AUG 2015 DOI: 10.1111/1471-0528.13509
Use of the Robson classification to assess caesarean section trends in 21 countries: a secondary analysis of two WHO multicountry surveys
The Lancet Volume 3, No. 5, e260–e270, May 2015
2014
One commentary and 12 scientific papers have been published in this BJOG supplement dedicated to maternal and perinatal health.
Risk Factors and Adverse Perinatal Outcomes among Term and Preterm Infants Born Small-for-Gestational-Age: Secondary Analyses of the WHO Multi-Country Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health
PLoS One. 2014 Aug 13;9(8):e105155. doi: 10.1371.
Use of antenatal corticosteroids and tocolytic drugs in preterm births in 29 countries: an analysis of the WHO Multicountry Survey on Maternal and Newborn Health
The Lancet . 2014 Aug 12. pii: S0140-6736(14)60580-8. doi: 10.1016/S0140-6736(14)60580-8.
Factors associated with the use of prenatal corticosteroids in the management of preterm delivery in Chinese hospitals
Int J Gynaecol Obstet. Volume
127 , Issue 3 , 260 - 264.
2013
Moving beyond essential interventions for reduction of maternal mortality
The Lancet, Volume 381, Issue 9879, Pages 1747
- 1755, 18 May 2013