Nepal's story: Understanding Improvements in Maternal Health

Nepal achieved a striking reduction in maternal mortality during the 1990s and early 2000s. According to data from Nepal Demographic and Health Surveys, the country’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) fell by 47 per cent between 1996 and 2006. More recent survey data support this downward trend. Despite difficult terrain, conflict and political upheaval, it is one of the few countries likely to meet Millennium Development Goal 5 on maternal health. This case study aims to explain how the country succeeded in significantly reducing maternal mortality between the early 1990s and the late 2000s, as reflected in the two NDHS estimates and the 2008/09 MMMS.