Intervention Strategies to Reduce Maternal Mortality in the Context of the Sustainable Development Goals: A Scoping Review

Abstract

According to the United Nations Population Fund, approximately every two minutes, a woman dies, totalling approximately 800 deaths per day for reasons related to a maternal causes. Therefore, within the Sustainable Development Goals of the 2030 Agenda, the goal is to reduce the global maternal mortality rate to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. We aim to analyse strategies to reduce maternal mortality in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals, identify barriers that hinder their implementation, and analyse the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their achievement. We performed a scoping review of the following databases and distributors of specialised information in the health area: PubMed, Medes, Lilacs, Cuiden, Cinahl, Scopus, SciELO, and websites of the United Nations (UN), United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), and Cooperanda. A total of 24 articles were reviewed. The results obtainded determined that reviewed studies agree that despite efforts to reduce maternal mortality, significant social and structural barriers still exist in developing countries that slow the implementation of strategies to protect maternal health, especially in the most at-risk populations, and the improvement of the health system. The main strategy consists of increasing the number of deliveries attended by qualified personnel, which is the greatest indicator of progress in reducing maternal mortality. To conclude, Economic, social, and political barriers remain in developing countries in the context of the Sustainable Development Goals. The intervention that has shown the most success is the attendance of deliveries by qualified personnel. It is essential to prioritise maternal care, triangular cooperation, and effective connection between the different Sustainable Development Goals.