Ensconced in the safety of the developed world, it's easy to forget just how fraught childbirth can be in other parts of the globe.

Meg Wirth is the co-founder of Maternova, a marketplace for global health technologies. Having traveled extensively to research ways to reduce childbirth deaths, she talked to HuffPost Live about the three key factors that contribute to reduced maternal mortality.

First and foremost, she said, safety is most important.

"The first thing that comes to mind is the safety issue: safety from violence -- from violence in the home and violence externally," Wirth told Caroline Modarressy-Tehrani. "That is something that we all can relate to, whether we're in the U.S., in an urban setting or a lonely rural setting or whether we’re in Afghanistan."

The second key component, Wirth said, is the right to get pregnant only at the time of a woman's choosing.

Finally, expectant mothers need to seek out health care workers, like midwives.

"There’s this whole group of people who are really the ones with some fundamental skills that can change the odds for women giving birth," Wirth said. "With a few fundamental skills, a couple drugs, a couple simple devices, these people can change the odds and let the mothers live."