Photo: Jessica Scranton/FHI 360

FHI 360 is pleased to have contributed to the article, The scale, scope, coverage, and capability of childbirth care in the recent Lancet Series, Maternal Health 2016. In this paper, the authors present a conceptual framework of certain pathways in the healthcare system that lead to adequate childbirth care options that save lives. All women should have access to high quality maternity services, so in this paper the authors present data that policy makers and planners can use to evaluate whether maternal health services are functioning to ensure that every woman can give birth without risk to her life, or that of her baby.