From the executive summary: "Promoting healthy pregnancy and safe childbirth is a goal of all European health care systems. Despite significant improvements in recent decades, mothers and their babies are still at risk during the perinatal period, which covers pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum.
Babies born too early are more likely to die than those born at term. They are also more likely to have neurological and developmental disorders that carry long-term consequences for their quality of life, their families, and for health and social services.
The same is true for babies born with severe congenital anomalies. Many of them have important medical, social, and educational needs. Stillbirths have not decreased to the same extent as neonatal deaths, and their causes remain largely unknown.
Maternal deaths are rare but tragic events, particularly because a significant proportion of these deaths are associated with substandard care."
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