The Impact of Nursing and Midwifery Interventions on Reducing Maternal Mortality A Narrative Revi

Abstract

Nursing and midwifery interventions play a pivotal role in reducing maternal mortality by delivering timely, evidence-based care across the continuum of pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. This narrative review synthesizes literature on antenatal risk screening, skilled intrapartum attendance, active management of the third stage of labor, immediate newborn care, and postpartum surveillance—interventions that directly reduce causes of maternal death such as hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders, sepsis, and obstructed labor. Emphasis is placed on how midwives and nurses implement clinical protocols, perform early recognition and referral for complications, and provide life-saving measures in low-resource settings. The review also considers the contribution of community-based midwifery, task-shifting strategies, and the use of standardized checklists and simulation training to improve clinical competence and response times.Beyond clinical procedures, the review highlights system-level and socio-cultural factors that modulate the effectiveness of nursing and midwifery interventions. Workforce capacity—education, continuous professional development, and supportive supervision—emerges as a critical determinant of outcomes, as does health system integration that ensures referral pathways, supply chain reliability, and data-driven quality improvement. Cultural competence, respectful maternity care, and community engagement are discussed as essential components for improving utilization of skilled care and timely help-seeking. Finally, the narrative identifies gaps in high-quality outcome data, calls for rigorous implementation research, and offers recommendations for policy and practice to strengthen nurse-midwife-led models as a central strategy for accelerating reductions in maternal mortality.