A new study suggests 56 interventions doctors can do to prevent the death of women during pregnancy and childbirth.

The three-year study reviewed 50,000 medical papers on the effectiveness of interventions and the impact on the survival of both women and children.

The World Health Organization (WHO), Aga Khan University, and The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) released the study Thursday.

“A lot is not brand new,” an author of the study, Dr. Elizabeth Mason, said in a release.

“It has been more a question of putting together information in a different way and building consensus among physicians, scientists and professional organizations to lay out an evidenced-based path to help women before, during and after birth and their children. Everyone now agrees on the 56 essential interventions.”

Some of the interventions include managing a woman’s anemia with iron, immediate thermal care for newborns, and extra support for feeding small and preterm babies.

The report noted 358,000 women die in pregnancy and childbirth globally each year, and 7.6 million children die before the age of five. It’s a particular problem in developing nations. In Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, most maternal deaths occur during or immediately after childbirth due to bleeding, high blood pressure, prolonged or obstructed labour, and infections.

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