What Works: A Policy and Program Guide to the Evidence on Family Planning, Safe Motherhood, and STI/HIV/AIDS Interventions: Module 1: Safe Motherhood Gay, Hardee, Judice, Agarwal, Fleming, Hairston, Walker, Wood (January 2003)  Full Document (English)     Worldwide, about 500,000 women and girls die of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth each year; and over 99 percent of these deaths occur in developing countries. The tragedy ? and opportunity ? is that most maternal deaths could be prevented with cost-effective health care services. Facing a range of competing priorities and limited resources, policymakers and program planners are in need of concise information on programs that are both effective and feasible. The POLICY Project is pleased to have the opportunity to make a significant contribution to the maternal health field with the launch of a new resource that documents safe motherhood interventions that work. This publication ? the first in a series entitled ?What Works: A Policy and Program Guide to the Evidence on Family Planning, Safe Motherhood, and STI/HIV/AIDS Interventions? ? presents a comprehensive review of the interventions (with supporting evidence) that have been shown to enhance maternal health in developing countries. Importantly, this document helps public health officials and decision makers answer the question ?What should we do?? when trying to figure out how to improve maternal health. It is also a tool to help maternal health advocates demonstrate that safe motherhood programs save lives, benefit societies and communities, and are effective and feasible, even in resource-constrained settings. The Safe Motherhood Module brings together the best available evidence on a range of interventions and packages it in one convenient source, covering topics such as Labor and Delivery, Postnatal Care, Care During Pregnancy, Pre-pregnancy Care, and Policy and Program Issues. It also provides guidance on programs that have not been shown to work, programs that should be avoided, and programs for which more evidence is needed. Additional sections provide a summary of safe motherhood interventions and present resources for program designers. The Safe Motherhood Module has been reviewed by some of the world?s leading maternal health experts, including those from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), World Health Organization (WHO), International Center for Research on Women (ICRW), JHPIEGO, Pan American Health Organization (PAHO), U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), and others. Forthcoming modules in the series will focus on addressing STIs/HIV/AIDS and reducing unintended pregnancies.