Safe Motherhood--the first decade

In 1987 an international project, the Safe Motherhood Initiative, was commenced with the aim of reducing, by half by the Year 2000, the 500,000 maternal deaths which occur each year throughout the world. In this paper the progress of the Initiative is described and reviewed. The crucial role of the midwife in reducing maternal mortality is recognised and the work to be done in the future is identified. This paper was given as a keynote address at the 23rd Congress of the International Confederation of Midwives in Vancouver in May, 1993.