Appropriate technology to prevent maternal mortality: current research requirements

Maternal mortality involves a complex mixture of clinical, infrastructural and social issues and will require a multifaceted approach if we are to see meaningful reductions occur. That includes thoughtful attention to appropriate technologies for low-resource countries. An international group of specialists meeting in Bellagio, Italy, in 2003 identified important needs and opportunities related to new and underutilized technologies to reduce pregnancy-related mortality. Research to fill in critical information gaps was a recurrent theme. Research, whether it is for product development, for building the evidence base about effectiveness and safety or for helping refine introduction strategies and guide practice, plays a critical role in the development and widespread use of technologies. Priority research needs related to the five major causes of maternal mortality-haemorrhage, puerperal sepsis, unsafe abortion, pre-eclampsia and eclampsia and obstructed labour-have been identified. Appropriate collaborations of investigators and other stakeholders and adequate financial resources are urgently needed to move the research agenda forward.