Final answer:
Improving maternal health is part of the MDGs and involves reducing maternal mortality, which aids in eradicating poverty, and hunger, and promoting gender equality. Development in health services, such as clean water and vaccinations, may temporarily raise population growth before leading to a decrease.
Step-by-step explanation:
Improving maternal health is crucial for enhancing human development and is one of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). One of the primary strategies to improve maternal health includes reducing maternal mortality, especially since maternal deaths have decreased by 34 percent but remain high in developing countries, particularly in the African region. This improvement contributes to addressing broader concerns, such as eradicating poverty and hunger, promoting gender equality, and reducing child mortality rates. Interestingly, while the provision of clean drinking water, improved sanitation, and vaccination can reduce disease and death rates, they might initially increase the rate of population growth before economic advances lead to a subsequent decrease in birth rates.