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To improve maternal health requires action to ensure quality maternal health care for all women and girls, and to guarantee access to care for those outside the system. In this paper, we highlight some of the most pressing issues in maternal health and ask: what steps can be taken in the next 5 years to catalyse action toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal target of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100 000 livebirths by 2030, with no single country exceeding 140? What steps can be taken to ensure that high-quality maternal health care is prioritised for every woman and girl everywhere? We call on all stakeholders to work together in securing a healthy, prosperous future for all women. National and local governments must be supported by development partners, civil society, and the private sector in leading efforts to improve maternal-perinatal health. This effort means dedicating needed policies and resources, and sustaining implementation to address the many factors influencing maternal health-care provision and use. Five priority actions emerge for all partners: prioritise quality maternal health services that respond to the local specificities of need, and meet emerging challenges; promote equity through universal coverage of quality maternal health services, including for the most vulnerable women; increase the resilience and strength of health systems by optimising the health workforce, and improve facility capability; guarantee sustainable finances for maternal-perinatal health; and accelerate progress through evidence, advocacy, and accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Before 2015, most of the research on women's experiences during childbirth was qualitative in nature.[2] Since then, several studies have sought to quantitatively measure the extent of disrespect and abuse during childbirth. Bohren and colleagues' study extends the evidence that many women are mistreated during facility-based childbirth in low-resource settings. 5 MA Bohren, H Mehrtash, B Fawole, How women are treated during facility-based childbirth in four countries: a cross-sectional study with labour observations and community-based surveys. [Extracted from the article]

In this Series we document the substantial progress in the reduction of maternal mortality and discuss the current state of science in reducing maternal mortality. However, maternal health is also powerfully influenced by the structures and resources of societies, communities, and health systems. We discuss the shocks from outside of the field of maternal health that will influence maternal survival including economic growth in low-income and middle-income countries, urbanisation, and health crises due to disease outbreaks, extreme weather, and conflict. Policy and technological innovations, such as universal health coverage, behavioural economics, mobile health, and the data revolution, are changing health systems and ushering in new approaches to affect the health of mothers. Research and policy will need to reflect the changing maternal health landscape. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the inaugural 2017 Women Leaders in Global Health Conference (WLGH) held at Stanford University in California. Topics discussed include a new vision for global health leadership, barriers to the advancement of women in global health, role of women as caregivers for their families and communities and improving outcomes, and creating capacity for gender parity in leadership.