Measurement of maternal health [letter]

In this letter the author disputes that knowing how to prevent women from dying means that maternal death can be prevented. She points out the various constraints of maternal mortality prevention basing from her experience in monitoring cases of maternal death in Tanzania. She suggests that maybe it is time to change the focus from the mother to the child since risk factors for perinatal mortality (pre-eclampsia small size for gestational age) could easily be detected through antenatal care as it is implemented now.