Maternal deaths are linked to child deaths

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) wants to accelerate efforts to reduce the mortality rate of women in pregnancy and childbirth. According to UNICEF estimates, maternal mortality worldwide still exceeds 500,000 women each year, often due to the unavailability of obstetrical care in emergencies.

UNICEF says these deaths are an unspeakable tragedy, not least because the causes for maternal mortality and the means to combat them are well known yet the unnecessary deaths continue. Access to emergency obstetrical care, especially in the case of caesarean sections, is critically limited.

The women die because they do not get basic health care during pregnancy and while giving birth. Hemorrhage is the number one cause (one in three deaths) of maternal death. The other common causes are infections, hypertension, complications of abortion, and obstructed labor.

The disparities in maternal death rates are huge. In the developing world, the risk of maternal death is 1 in 76; in the industrialized world, the risk is 1 in 8,000.

Of about 536,000 maternal deaths worldwide (2005 figures), over 99 percent were in the developing world and over half in sub-Saharan Africa. About a third of the deaths occur in South Asia. Together, sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia comprise 84 percent of all maternal deaths.

The riskiest place for childbirth is Niger, where the lifetime risk is 1 in 7, followed by Sierra Leone, with 1 in 8.

UNICEF says women’s chances of a successful pregnancy and childbirth are also influenced by their overall health condition, including nutrition and HIV status. In addition, there are societal factors, such as poverty, the treatment of women as social inferiors, poor education and others.

Maternal ill health can also have consequences on those who survive pregnancy and childbirth. The link between maternal and newborn health is very close. A child who loses the mother in the first 6 weeks of life will have a greater risk of dying within the first two years.

At the current pace of reduction in maternal deaths (less than 1% a year), the 2015 Millennium Development Goal of having only 150,000 maternal deaths a year cannot be achieved. More resources are needed.

Maternal deaths are for the most part preventable. With adequate resources, programs can be designed to provide family planning facilities, the attendance of a skilled health worker during childbirth, availability of and access to emergency obstetric care, and post-natal care for the mother and the newborn infant.