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A confidential system of enquiry into maternal mortality, based on that used in England and Wales, was introduced in Malaysia in 1991 with a view to identifying deficiencies in care and recommending remedial measures.

Despite its many advantages, the employment of women in economic activity in India has been associated with increased mortality for infants and young children. Simultaneously, narrower gender differentials in child mortality among employed women have been noted.

Maternal death has been recognized as an area of maternity care that requires urgent attention. The most striking feature about maternal health today is the extraordinary difference in maternal death rates between developed and developing countries.

Every minute of every day a woman dies as a result of pregnancy or childbirth. The loss per annum of 500,000 women is mind boggling. A maternal death is the outcome of a chain of events and disadvantages throughout a woman's life.

In a vast, multi-ethnic, multi-religious country like India, it is to be expected that we have several world-views operating at the same time in people's search for health and healing.

In 1991, an article on the Maternity Care Program in Matlab, Bangladesh, reported a substantial decline in direct obstetric deaths in the intervention area, but not in the control area. The decline was attributed primarily to the posting of midwives at the village level.

Cancer of the cervix is the most prevalent form of cancer in developing countries, and accounts for 25 to 50 per cent of all cancers occurring in Indian women.