Maternal Health

The Challenge

Pregnant women are susceptible to complications throughout the pregnancy cycle, including during pregnancy, during delivery, and following delivery.  Estimates suggest that roughly 358,000 pregnant women die each year globally from complications such as hemorrhage, infection, hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, obstructed labor, and unsafe abortion.  Additionally, millions more suffer from pregnancy-related illnesses and injuries, including obstetric fistula. Mothers with infectious disease like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases are generally at higher risk of complications during childbirth.  

The rate of maternal mortality has dropped only slightly, at an estimated 2.3% annual decline, since 1990. Differences in maternal mortality rates around the world reveal a large divide between the developed and developing world, where 99% of all maternal deaths occur. Women living in the poorest countries are nearly 300 times more likely to die from complications of pregnancy or childbirth than women living in industrialized countries.

Life-saving interventions and technologies exist for pregnant women, but millions do not have access to trained health care workers, appropriate medical equipment, and suitable facilities.  Despite recent increased resources directed to specific diseases, some of which have benefited maternal health, there have not been similar scale investments in functioning supply chains, skilled health workers, and other health system components that are critical to sustaining improvements in supporting healthy mothers.

The Opportunity

Fortunately, the majority of maternal deaths and complications can be prevented by improving access to existing solutions: contraceptives to enable women to plan and space births, skilled care during labor, emergency obstetric care, and immediate postnatal care. 

Good health begins before delivery; proper antenatal care for pregnant women--including nutritional support through programs such as iron supplementation and intermittent preventative treatment for malaria--helps women stay healthy and prepare their bodies for childbirth. During delivery, skilled care attendants are needed to provide support and monitor and address common complications.  Many maternal deaths occur in the first two days after labor, and postpartum care can help to keep mothers safe.  Skilled attendants to deliver these interventions and care for mothers in the community and at facilities are critical to providing care throughout the pregnancy cycle.

Research shows that if women had access to basic maternal health services, 80% of maternal deaths could be prevented.  The survival and health of mothers is essential to the well-being of the entire family - children who lose their mothers are five times more likely to die in infancy than those who do not. Additionally, investment in the health of mothers reaps widespread development returns that can benefit communities for generations to come.

Millennium Development Goal 5 is focused on improving maternal health.  Specifically, the two targets for this goal are to reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio, and to achieve universal access to reproductive health.  While progress is occurring at a much slower rate than what is needed to achieve these targets, increased leadership and commitment from developing countries and the donor community can help to improve the lives of mothers around the world.