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Fast Facts on Maternal Mortality and Morbidity

The Dimensions of the Tragedy

• Every minute, a woman somewhere dies in pregnancy or childbirth. This adds up to 1400 women dying each day — an estimated 529,000 each year — from pregnancy-related causes.

• For each woman who dies, about 20 women survive, but suffer from serious disease, disability or physical damage caused by complications of pregnancy or childbirth.

• A million or more children are left motherless each year as a result of maternal mortality. These children are 3 to 10 times more likely to die within two years than children who live with both parents.

• Almost half — about 3.4 million out of 8 million — of infant deaths per year result from poor maternal health and inadequate delivery care.

• While many other health indicators have improved over the last two decades, maternal mortality rates have shown little improvement.

The Causes of Maternal Death

• Up to 15 per cent of pregnant women in ALL population groups experience potentially fatal complications — 20 million women each year.

• More than 80 percent of maternal deaths worldwide are due to five direct causes: haemorrhage, sepsis, unsafe abortion, obstructed labour and hypertensive disease of pregnancy.

	Unsafe abortion   Severe bleeding   Infection   Eclampsia   Obstructed Labor   Other direct causes   Indirect Causes*
*Indirect causes include: anaemia, malaria, heart disease. Source: Understanding the Causes of Maternal Deaths. Distance Learning Pilot Course. UNFPA, 2001.

• Approximately 5 per cent of pregnant women — 7 million women — need surgery, most often a Caesarean section, and many are without access to emergency obstetric care. This unmet need results in 500,000 to 1 million women living with a painful disability.

• Only 58 per cent of women in developing countries deliver with the assistance of a professional (a midwife or doctor), and only 40 per cent give birth in a hospital or health centre.

• Most maternal deaths (61 per cent) take place during delivery or in the immediate post-partum period. Some 3.4 million neonatal deaths occur within the first week of life.

Moving Forward

• Meeting the existing demand for family planning services would reduce maternal deaths and injuries by 20 per cent or more.

• According to reproductive health benchmark set by the ICPD+ 5, by 2005, at least 40 per cent of births should be assisted by skilled birth attendants where maternal mortality is very high, and 80 per cent globally.

• Targets for the percentage of assisted births have been set at 50 and 85 per cent, respectively, by 2010, and 60 and 90 per cent by 2015.

• Evidence shows that maternal mortality can be reduced without first achieving high levels of economic development. In fact, maternal mortality itself constrains economic development, because of its severe impact on the lives of young children, the family and society in general.

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