In a newly released report by the World Health Organization (WHO), maternal deaths have significantly gone down around the world.
The study on the trends of maternal deaths by WHO, World Bank Group, United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), United Nations Population Division (UNPD), and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) are part of the Millennium Development Goals that began in 1990 and expected to be achieved in 2015. Based on the targets, the rate of maternal deaths should be reduced up to 75%.
According to the executive summary, global maternal deaths within the last 25 years since 1990 had dropped by 44% or 216 per 100,000 live births from 385 per 100,000 live births. Yearly maternal deaths have also been reduced by 43% along with the risk of maternal death.
Countries with some of the highest maternal deaths in 1990 have also been commended for meeting the objective. These include Bhutan, Cabo Verde, Maldives, Timor Leste, Rwanda, Mongolia, and the Islamic Republic of Iran. Countries such as Afghanistan, Angola, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Honduras, and Romania have been classified as making progress. Eastern Asia has the biggest decline at 72%.
However, maternal deaths still remain high in two regions, namely, Southern Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, which account for 66%. Nigeria has the biggest deaths at 58,000 followed by India at 45,000. The report also mentioned that deaths among mothers are also high in areas of conflict mainly due to the breakdown of their health care system. With hospitals and treatments becoming significantly inaccessible, mothers could die of complications that could have been otherwise treated.
Further, the number in the report may be only approximations since WHO found it "challenging" to gather data pertaining to maternal deaths due to incomplete or erroneous information. For example, some of the deaths may have been unreported. Nevertheless, the report says it's clear that many mothers still die during birth.
Currently, WHO is working on the Sustainable Development Goals, which aims to reduce maternal deaths to 70 from 100,000 live births in 2030.
For the full report, click here.