Every minute, another woman dies needlessly in the agony of childbirth. She may leave behind a devastated family, and young children who will fail to thrive. And for every woman who dies, about 20 more are injured or disabled.

The tragedy is that almost all of these deaths – an estimated 529,000 a year – are preventable, Yet while most other health indicators have improved in the developing world over the last decades, maternal mortality and morbidity continue to take their high toll.

• Timely emergency obstetric care for women who develop complications is the central strategy in the efforts to stanch maternal deaths.

• Having skilled attendance and functioning referral systems available to all women in labour is another key strategy.

• Simply meeting the unmet need for contraceptive services could reduce maternal mortality by 20 per cent or more.

But Maternal Deaths Still Unacceptably High!!!

Recent findings on maternal mortality by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA show that a woman living in sub-Saharan Africa has a 1 in 16 chance of dying in pregnancy or childbirth. This compares with a 1 in 2,800 risk for a woman from a developed region. These findings, as well as statistical data by region and country, are contained in a new global report on maternal mortality released in October 2003 by the three agencies.

Of the estimated 529,000 maternal deaths in 2000, 95 per cent occurred in Africa and Asia, while only 4 per cent (22,000) occurred in Latin America and the Caribbean, and less than one per cent (2,500) in the more developed regions of the world.

Experience from successful maternal health programmes shows that much of this death and suffering could be avoided if all women had the assistance of a skilled health worker during pregnancy and delivery, and access to emergency medical care when complications arise.