A reduction in maternal mortality has traditionally been used as a critical measure of progress in improving maternal health. If a 75% reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015 – the target set under Millennium Development Goal 5 – is to be attained, we must redouble our efforts. In this endeavour, governments, policy-makers, donors, researchers, civil society and other stakeholders have come together in unprecedented fashion. Yet despite the fact that the maternal mortality ratio is considered one of the main indicators of a country’s status in the area of maternal health, the burden of maternal mortality is only a small fraction of the burden of maternal morbidity – the health problems borne by women during pregnancy and the postpartum period.