title: Achieving Millennium Development Goals 4 and 5 in Sri Lanka.
abstract: Sri Lanka has an exemplary record in maternal and child health care. Provision of free education for over 60 years has helped to empower women. Medical care is accessible and provided free of charge. The maternal mortality ratio and the other indices of maternal and neonatal health have shown uninterrupted improvement since 1930. Midwives and the policy to increase their presence has been the key to success. Public health midwives provide care at the doorstep. Institutional midwives carry out the vast majority of deliveries, of which 99% occur in hospitals. Although on target with the Millennium Development Goals, some challenges that still remain are maternal death from postpartum haemorrhage and unsafe abortion, and perinatal deaths due to congenital abnormalities and prematurity.
authors.affiliation: Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka. senanayakeh@gmail.com
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Senanayake
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goonewardene
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ranatunga
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Hattotuwa
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Amarasekera
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Amarasinghe
mesh_terms: D002423:Cause of Death; D002662:Child Health Services; D046688:Child Mortality; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005193:Family Planning Services; D005260:Female; D006291:Health Policy; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007226:Infant Mortality; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008427:Maternal Health Services; D008428:Maternal Mortality; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D011247:Pregnancy; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D014480:United Nations / Q000592:standards*