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Maternal health is the health of women during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. It encompasses the health care dimensions of family planning, preconception, prenatal, and postnatal care in order to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality.

Preconception care can include education, health promotion, screening and other interventions among women of reproductive age to reduce risk factors that might affect future pregnancies. The goal of prenatal care is to detect any potential complications of pregnancy early, to prevent them if possible, and to direct the woman to appropriate specialist medical services as appropriate. Postnatal care issues include recovery from childbirth, concerns about newborn care, nutrition, breastfeeding, and family planning.

Poverty/access to healthcare
The risk for maternal death (during pregnancy or childbirth) in sub-Saharan Africa is 175 times higher than in developed countries, and risk for pregnancy-related illnesses and negative consequences after birth is even higher. Poverty, maternal health, and outcomes for the child are all interconnected. Neonatal deaths in developing countries account for 98% of worldwide yearly neonatal deaths. That being said, poverty is detrimental to the health of both mother and child.

Women living in poverty-stricken areas are more likely to be obese and engage in unhealthy behaviors such as cigarette smoking and drug use, are less likely to engage in or even have access to legitimate prenatal care, and are at a significantly higher risk for adverse outcomes for both the mother and child. A study conducted in Kenya observed that common maternal health problems in poverty-stricken areas include hemorrhaging, anemia, hypertension, malaria, placenta retention, premature labor, prolonged/complicated labor, and pre-eclampsia.

Generally, adequate prenatal care encompasses medical care and educational, social, and nutritional services during pregnancy. Although there are a variety of reasons women choose not to engage in proper prenatal care, 71% of low-income women in a US national study had difficulties getting access to prenatal care when they sought it out. Additionally, immigrants and Hispanic women are at higher risk than white or black women for receiving little to no prenatal care, where level of education is also an indicator (since education and race are correlated). Adolescents are least likely to receive any prenatal care at all. Throughout several studies, women and adolescents ranked inadequate finances and lack of transportation as the most common barriers to receiving proper prenatal care.