Feminist Peace Network

According to a report by the United Nations Population Fund, 536,000 women died of maternal causes in 2005.

“Ninety-nine per cent of these deaths occurred in developing countries.

Slightly more than one half of the maternal deaths (270,000) occurred in the sub-Saharan Africa region, followed by South Asia (188,000). Together, these two regions accounted for 86 per cent of the world’s maternal deaths in 2005.

Eleven countries accounted for almost 65 per cent of global maternal deaths in 2005. India had the largest number (117,000), followed by Nigeria (59,000), the Democratic Republic of the Congo (32,000) and Afghanistan (26,000).”

Unbelievably for all its wealth, the United States,

“has a far higher death rate than the European average, the report shows, with one in 4,800 U.S. women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth, the same as Belarus and just slightly better than Serbia’s rate of one in 4,500.

Just one out of 47,600 women in Ireland die during or just after childbirth, the report found. Bosnia had the second-lowest rate, with 1 in 29,000 women dying during pregnancy and childbirth.”

“The report, published in the Lancet medical journal, places the United States 41st among 171 countries.

The four lowest-ranked countries in the report are Chad, with 1 in 11 women dying in pregnancy or childbirth, Afghanistan and Sierra Leone with one in eight, and Niger losing one in seven mothers.”

“According to the U.S. National center for Health Statistics, about 6 million U.S. women get pregnant every year. Four million children are born, about 1 million pregnancies end in miscarriages and another 1 million in induced abortion.

The major direct causes of U.S. pregnancy-related deaths are blood clots, hemorrhage, complications of medical conditions, and eclampsia and pre-eclampsia, which are marked by dangerously high blood pressure.

The death rate among U.S. black women was nearly four times the rate found among non-Hispanic white women — 34.7 deaths per 100,000 live births for blacks versus 9.3 per 100,000 live births for whites, the report said.”

According to The Lancet:

“Among the interventions that have a significant effect on maternal mortality is access to safe abortion.”

And also:

Women’s status and empowerment, in spheres such as education, employment, decision making, intimate partner violence, and reproductive health, affect their maternal health including access to and use of services during pregnancy and childbirth.
Maternal health has profound effects on neonatal and child survival and morbidity and grave implications for the long term wellbeing of children particularly girls through its effect on their education, growth, and car.

Maternal death and illness is costly for families because of high direct health costs, loss of income, loss of other economic contributions, disturbed family relationships, and social stresses.

Maternal health affects economic productivity and overall health service delivery.

The investment needed for improved maternal health is a minor fraction of global spending and makes financial sense since maternal health interventions are cost effective.

And the evidence shows that:

“(W)omen’s status and empowerment measured by education, employment, intimate partner violence, and reproductive health affects women’s capacity to access and use services during pregnancy and childbirth or otherwise maintain good maternal health. In some cases, the evidence also suggests that maternal health affects women’s status and empowerment as well.”

And just when are we going to declare a war on maternal mortality?