Every year on April 7, the world observes World Health Day, highlighting pressing global health concerns. In 2025, the focus is on maternal and newborn health under the campaign Healthy Beginnings, Hopeful Futures. This initiative calls on governments, healthcare systems, and communities to take decisive action in reducing preventable maternal and newborn deaths while enhancing long-term health outcomes for women and infants.
Maternal and newborn health statistics remain alarming. Each year, nearly 300,000 women die due to pregnancy or childbirth complications. Over 2 million newborns do not survive beyond their first month, while another 2 million are stillborn. This equates to a preventable death every seven seconds, causing immense suffering for families worldwide. Many of these tragedies could be prevented with better access to quality prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, alongside stronger healthcare systems that prioritize maternal and newborn well-being.
Since 2000, global efforts have led to a 40% reduction in maternal mortality, dropping from 446,000 deaths in 2000 to 260,000 in 2023. However, disparities persist. In 2023, Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for approximately 70% of global maternal deaths, with Central and Southern Asia contributing another 17%.
To meet Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 3.1, reducing global maternal mortality to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030, intensified efforts are needed. A significant milestone was achieved in May 2024 with the adoption of the WHA77 resolution, urging nations to remove barriers, expand access to quality healthcare, and reorient health systems toward primary healthcare.
Sri Lanka has made remarkable progress, reducing maternal mortality to 25 per 100,000 live births in 2023. This achievement stems from a robust healthcare system that offers free and equitable maternal health services. Key success factors include the professionalization of midwifery, data-driven decision-making, and continuous improvements in care quality. Moving forward, ensuring not only access but also effectiveness in maternal care is crucial. Enhancing prenatal and postnatal services, addressing healthcare access disparities, and integrating advanced medical interventions will be essential in further improving outcomes.To support maternal health initiatives, World Health Organization, in collaboration with Sri Lanka’s Ministry of Health, conducted a webinar series in commemoration of World Health Day 2025. The sessions focused on maternal nutrition, maternal mental health, and maternal empowerment.
Maternal Nutrition: Nurturing the Future
The inaugural webinar, “Nurturing the Future: Maternal Nutrition for Healthy Beginnings,” took place on April 1st, featuring esteemed international and national speakers and focused on maternal nutrition. While making significant progress in reducing maternal mortality, Sri Lanka’s attention has shifted to ensuring quality maternal health outcomes that contribute to healthy beginnings for both mothers and infants. A newborn's birth weight is a key indicator of pregnancy outcomes and is directly influenced by maternal nutrition. It also has long-term implications for health and development. However, recent studies indicate a rise in low birth weight babies, highlighting the urgent need to examine the underlying causes and the role of maternal nutrition. It also has long-term implications for health and development. Maternal health is shaped by various factors, including socioeconomic conditions, education, emotional and physical well-being, and obstetric care. The ongoing economic downturn poses challenges, potentially affecting access to nutritious food and healthcare services for expectant mothers. While anaemia during pregnancy remains a concern, the underlying causes have evolved, with a decline in iron deficiency. This calls for more targeted nutritional interventions to address persistent anaemia levels and improve overall maternal health. This webinar on Maternal Nutrition, explored the significant progress Sri Lanka has made in reducing maternal mortality while emphasizing the need to shift our focus toward improving the quality of maternal health outcomes. The global and regional nutrition trends along with the national nutritional landscape were explored, highlighting key challenges such as low birth weight and small-for-gestational-age births. The importance of addressing anaemia, ensuring adequate weight gain during pregnancy, and tackling both undernutrition and overnutrition were underscored. While positive strides have been made, the looming concerns posed by economic downturns and rising poverty were acknowledged, calling for more evidence-based interventions and policies to safeguard maternal nutrition.
Maternal Mental Health: Resilient Mothers, Mental Wellness Matters
The second webinar, “Resilient Mothers: Mental Wellness Matters,” held on April 2nd shed light on an often-overlooked aspect of maternal well-being. Women of childbearing age are particularly at risk for depression and experience higher levels of social morbidity and depressive symptoms. Although Sri Lanka has made significant progress in reducing maternal mortality, maternal mental well-being remains a neglected area. The consequences of maternal postpartum depression are not limited to infancy but can extend into preschool and school age, impacting child development. Recent global and local statistics on maternal health outcomes indicate reasons for concern regarding the unmet need for mental health services. Addressing these gaps requires both community empowerment and service strengthening. Existing programs need to be realigned to meet new challenges, with an emphasis on integrating mental well-being into maternal care. The webinar also covered global and local evidence on maternal mental well-being and its effects on child development, highlighting best practices from other countries where mental well-being is integrated into maternal care programs. Furthermore, national evidence on mental health conditions among perinatal mothers and the general population was presented, reflecting concerning trends, including late maternal mortality linked to mental health issues. Key takeaways from this session include: Integrating mental well-being programs into maternal care, developing a broad-based psychosocial support program from pre-pregnancy through young family care, introducing a stepped care approach using existing primary care structures, implementing risk screening by primary healthcare staff (nurses and midwives) to provide basic psychosocial support, retraining primary care health workers to promote mental well-being and provide psychosocial support, establishing a referral system to optimize the use of mental health professionals and fostering intersectoral collaboration to enhance life skills for addressing mental health challenges.Maternal Empowerment: Mothers Empowered to Stay Well
The final webinar, “Mothers Empowered to Stay Well,” held on April 3rd, focused on holistic maternal well-being, highlighting the power of empowerment in promoting health. Sri Lanka’s National Maternal Health Program has established multiple access points to ensure comprehensive care for mothers, from preconception to postpartum and beyond. This includes services for all eligible couples, antenatal and postnatal care, well-woman programs, home visits, intrapartum care, and family planning services. Additionally, community-driven mother support groups provide further engagement opportunities. Despite these well-structured services, maternal health outcomes remain variable, suggesting that greater efforts are needed to enhance active engagement and utilization of available care. Factors such as delays in seeking care, maternal BMI at the first visit, dental health, physical activity during pregnancy, and service coverage gaps highlight areas for improvement. The webinar explored how existing entry points in maternal health services can be better leveraged, aligning with Sri Lanka’s ongoing primary healthcare strengthening efforts. Recent findings from the Global School-Based Student Health Survey and the 2021 STEP Survey emphasize a gap in health promotion strategies, signaling the need for a more proactive approach. Missed opportunities in maternal health have long-term, intergenerational consequences. Addressing these gaps through a life-course approach to well-being is not just essential but timely, ensuring healthier beginnings for both mothers and their children. The Webinar highlighted the need for comprehensive policies and community-driven initiatives that empower mothers. The importance of access to healthcare, education, and economic stability was emphasized as key enablers of maternal empowerment. The discussionsalso explored how investing in maternal health translates into long-term societal benefits, strengthening not just individual families but entire communities.
This webinar series has reinforced the notion that maternal health is a multidimensional issue requiring collaborative efforts from healthcare providers, policymakers, researchers, and communities. We must continue advocating for evidence-based policies, strengthening existing maternal health programs, and fostering an environment where every mother has access to the care and support she needs.
Future Steps
The insights gained from this webinar series will shape future maternal health interventions in Sri Lanka, contributing to the country’s next health policy cycle. WHO remains committed to supporting Sri Lanka in achieving its maternal health goals, ensuring that every mother and newborn receives the care necessary for a healthy start and a promising future.Non Communicable Diseases Risk Factor Survey (STEPS Survey) Sri Lanka 2021