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New Report Concludes:
More Work Needed to Achieve Reduction in Maternal Mortality

A new report, "Maternal Mortality in 2005," published by the World Health Organization (WHO), calls into question whether Millennium Development Goal 5 - a 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality rates by 2015 - is achievable.  

According to the report:

To meet the 2015 target, a 5.5 percent annual decline of maternal mortalities is necessary.
Maternal mortality has declined worldwide at an average of less than 1 percent annually between 1990 and 2005.
Eastern Asia had the most success with a 4.2 percent annual decline.
Sub-Saharan Africa had the least success with an annual decline of 0.1 percent.
Maternal deaths constitute a major problem where the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel (doctor, midwife or nurse) is limited.

In Africa, less than half of births are attended by a skilled health worker, despite an increase from 43 percent to 57 percent between 1990 and 2005 in all developing regions.

The report 's findings suggest much needs to be done to achieve the MDG goal of 75 percent reduction in maternal mortality rates by 2015. According to WHO, realizing this goal will require increased attention to improved health care for women; prevention of unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions; and access to high-quality pregnancy and delivery care, including emergency obstetric care.

Read the Report

Millennium Development Goals


ICRW and the Millennium Development Goals


QUICK FACT: Maternal Mortality

In 2005, of the estimated 536,000 maternal deaths worldwide, an overwhelming 99% (533,000) occurred in the developing world. Millennium Development Goal 5 addresses maternal mortality and pledges to reduce the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) by three quarters from 1990 to 2015. But as indicated by WHO 2005 statistics, the maternal mortality rate in developing regions is still woefully behind those in developed regions and the number of women who die of preventable pregnancy-related causes is still unacceptably high in large swaths of the globe.

In sub-Saharan Africa

  • Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for one-half of maternal deaths worldwide.
  • The region saw an annual decline of 0.1%, a miniscule percent change of maternal deaths per population figures between 1990 and 2005. In 1990, sub-Saharan Africa recorded 206,000 maternal deaths, a figure which increased to 265,000 maternal deaths in 2005.
  • One in every 22 women will risk death due to pregnancy-related causes.

In Asia

  • South Asia is second only to sub-Saharan Africa in number of maternal deaths.
  • In 2005, an estimated 188,000 women died from pregnancy-related causes.
  • As a single country, India has the largest number of maternal deaths in the world.
  • For every 70 Indian women, one will risk dying of pregnancy-related causes.

In Europe

  • Europe records the lowest maternal mortality ratio in the world, with 2,900 maternal deaths in 2005, compared to 261,000 in Africa and 170,000 in South Asia.

In Latin America and the Caribbean

  • In 2005, for every 100,000 live births, 130 would-be mothers die.
  • The lifetime risk of maternal death is 1 in 280.

In the United States

  • In 2003, American women suffered 12.1 deaths for every 100,000 births.
  • This number more than doubled for non Hispanic black women, with 31.2 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births indicating that disparities in maternal mortality ratios along ethnic lines still exist.

Sources:

For United States statistics: CDC DRH publication: Safe Motherhood: Promoting Health for Women Before, During and After Pregnancypdf (2007)

All other regions WH0: Maternal Mortality in 2005 pdf