Maternal Health

The Maternal Health Unit (MAH) provides leadership for improving maternal and perinatal health and well-being and ending preventable maternal mortality. MAH generates programmatic-focused evidence, develops guidelines, norms and standards, and supports regions and countries in adaptation, implementation and monitoring of person-centered quality and respectful maternal and perinatal care through advocacy, partnerships, policy dialogue and capacity building.

About us

UNICEF Ethiopia
Breastfeeding while giving kangaroo mother care

Technical areas of work

Service delivery with quality

Midwifery education and care

Maternal and perinatal death surveillance and response

Maternal morbidity and well-being

Stillbirth prevention

Data portal

Research

Monitoring and Evaluation

Policy and Strategy

MCA and COVID-19: resources for pregnancy, childbirth, postnatal care and breastfeeding

Partnerships and initiatives

Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality

Muskoka Partnership

Networks and Advisory groups

Mother and Newborn Information for Tracking Outcomes and Results

The Network for Improving Quality of Care for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (Quality of Care Network)

Our activities

Promoting healthy pregnancy

Making childbirth a positive experience

Strengthening home-based records implementation

Strengthening quality midwifery for all mothers and newborns

Raising the importance of postnatal care

Strengthening health systems and communities

Publication library

All →

Latest publications

Global roadmap for hypertensive disorders of pregnancy from 2026 to 2035 and beyond

Hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, particularly pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, are major causes of maternal death and severe morbidity worldwide. They...

Download

Tracking progress in reducing maternal mortality towards 2030: brief

Reducing maternal mortality remains a central global health priority within the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which call for substantial...

Download

The WHO Labour Care Guide advances evidence-based, respectful, and person-centered intrapartum care by strengthening health workers’ capacity for...

Selected implementation guidances

The Framework for Action to Strengthen Midwifery Education is a guide to develop high-quality, sustainable pre- and in-service midwifery education...

This standardized system for classifying stillbirths and neonatal deaths, aims to help countries link stillbirths and neonatal deaths to contributing conditions...

Much progress has been made during the past two decades in coverage of births in health facilities; however, reductions in maternal and neonatal mortality...

Most maternal deaths are preventable. In order to end preventable maternal deaths, accurate information on how many women died, where they died and how...