The Lancet Maternal Health Series: Global Research and Evidence from FutureLearn

Most FutureLearn courses run multiple times. Every run of a course has a set start date but you can join it and work through it after it starts. Find out more This course is designed for people who are studying, researching or working in maternal health or related disciplines such as public health, global health or medicine. If you’re a healthcare professional, you may find it useful to upgrade this course to support your continuing professional development (CPD). By upgrading, you’ll be able to take this course at your own pace and revisit the material at any time in future. Once you complete the course, you’ll receive a Certificate of Achievement as evidence of your CPD. This includes details of what you learnt and the number of learning hours required. You can use the hashtag #FLmaternalhealth to talk about this course on social media.

Topics Covered

The shifting burden of the epidemiology of global maternal health, how it has changed and key drivers
Capability and coverage of maternal health care including where and how women give birth; linking women to routine and emergency care; facility capability and staffing
Quality maternal health care and how it relates to evidence-based medicine and respectful care
Poor quality maternal health care including “too much, too soon” and “too little, too late”, and how care can be improved
Navigating the future of global maternal health including evolving priorities, challenges and opportunities in the Sustainable Development
Goal era including shocks; innovations; partnership and advocacy; financing; developing better data collection and research

Reviews summary

Global maternal health: evidence-based insights

According to students, this course provides an incredibly comprehensive and up-to-date overview of global maternal health, drawing heavily on recent Lancet series publications and robust evidence. It is widely regarded as highly relevant for healthcare professionals and those in public health, proving particularly valuable for continuing professional development (CPD). While many learners found the expert contributions insightful and the course structure logical, a few noted that the content can be dense and academic, potentially challenging for those new to global health research. The course is seen as demanding but highly rewarding, though some desired more interactive elements or active forum discussions.

Taught by highly knowledgeable experts in the field.

"The expert contributions were insightful, making complex topics digestible."

"The instructors are clearly experts in their fields."

"It reinforced my existing knowledge and expanded it significantly."

Directly applicable for healthcare and public health professionals.

"The content was highly relevant for my work in public health policy... A must for anyone serious about this field."

"As a healthcare professional, I needed something to bridge the gap between academic research and practical application, and this course delivered."

"I found it perfectly suitable for my ongoing professional development. The case studies were particularly helpful in grounding the theory."

Provides robust, evidence-based global maternal health insights.

"This course provided an incredibly comprehensive and up-to-date overview of global maternal health, drawing heavily on recent Lancet series publications."

"The course content is excellent, very rich in evidence and current research. I found the modules on epidemiology and quality of care particularly strong."

"It's truly a global perspective, and the emphasis on evidence is clear. The instructors are clearly experts in their fields."

Some wished for more active forums and interactive elements.

"My only minor critique is that some discussions in the forums were not as active as I hoped, which limited peer interaction."

"I felt it sometimes lacked interactive elements that could help solidify understanding for a broader audience."

Offers rigorous, research-heavy content, potentially dense for some.

"While the information is undoubtedly important and accurate, I found some of the presentations a bit dry. For a beginner, it might be overwhelming..."

"The content is dense and very academic. As someone relatively new to global health research, I found it challenging to keep up without prior extensive background."

"Some parts felt a little academic, which is fine for research, but I was hoping for a bit more emphasis on immediate clinical application."

Career center

Learners who complete The Lancet Maternal Health Series: Global Research and Evidence will develop knowledge and skills that may be useful to these careers: