Maternal mortality has been one of the most daunting public health problems facing developing countries for several decades. The average lifetime risk of maternal death in least developed countries is 1 in 22 compared with 1 in 8000 in industrialized countries. Such vast regional differences demonstrate how available and accessible resources can completely change the picture. Even in low-resource settings, it has been shown that basic district health systems can deliver the services needed to save women’s lives. But women face many barriers to accessing care including distance, transportation, cost, perceived poor quality or actual poor quality. One mechanism that researchers and policy makers have been experimenting with to address several of these barriers is a voucher. Within a health voucher program, a woman can purchase a voucher for a fraction of the cost of services or receive it for free and redeem it an accredited health facilities (public or private) for specific services. Facilities are reimbursed for the care they deliver through government or development aid. Voucher programs aim to give patients the economic power to demand high-quality healthcare, to target aid to high-risk or low-income patients for critical services and to increase utilization rates within these populations.