A life course perspective on women's reproductive health and the outcome of pregnancy.

The previous century was characterized by tremendous advances in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity, as well as dramatic improvements in perinatal outcomes for fetus and newborn. However, there has now developed a plateauing or even a worsening in some of the commonly tracked indicators of reproductive health. In this section, leading policy experts focus on redefining how the health system approaches the task of continuing to improve the reproductive outcomes of women and their offspring. They analyze key underlying fundamentals and offer their individual suggestions for new initiatives to reverse these disturbing negative trends.