Despite the tremendous efforts in reduction of maternal deaths, Bangladesh still loses 14 mothers a day due to complication of pregnancy delivery and post-partum period and largely due to delivery by unskilled birth attendants at home and lack of appropriate care for obstetric complications from a skilled provider at facilities. Experiences show that if women-friendly services can be made available nearer to the communities, the utilization of services can be increased. Significant inequities exist across geographical regions and between different wealth quintiles. Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is the highest in Sylhet division (425 per 100,000 live births) and the lowest at 64 per 100,000 live births in Khulna division (Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Healthcare Survey-BMMS 2010).
To address the current challenges regarding maternal health in Bangladesh, the government and development partners are determined to design and implement better maternal health programs. Under this backdrop, RDM organized a consultation on July 30, 2018 that brought together twenty nine participants including policy makers and stakeholders working in the field of maternal health to discuss the current situation based on available data and exchange views and opinions regarding how to address these challenges.