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A modest increase in the number of skilled midwives in poorest nations could save lives of substantial number of women and their babies, according to a new research. 

Maternal mortality is one of the leading causes of death for mothers in many developing countries. Contrastingly, public health efforts to avert deaths have only made headway in few countries. Elsewhere the progress has never started or has stalled in the recent years. 

According to researchers, midwives can play a significant role in preventing the deaths of millions of women and children around the world who die during and around the time of pregnancy. 

"Even deploying a relatively small number of midwives around each country could have a profound impact on saving maternal, fetal and newborn lives," said study leader Linda Bartlett, MD, MHSc, a faculty member in the Department of International Health at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, in the press release. "Our study shows that maternal mortality can be prevented, even in the most difficult of places."

Researchers in their analysis noted that 10 percent increase in midwife coverage every five years through 2025 could avert more than a quarter of maternal, fetal and infant deaths in the world's 26 neediest countries including Ethiopia and Somalia. 

"With a very functional medical system,"said Bartlett, "maternal deaths become extremely rare events."

The research has been published in The Lancet.