Although maternal mortality has been reduced by a third in 20 years, a woman still dies in the world every two minutes from complications related to pregnancy or childbirth, the UN warned on Thursday. Progress in reducing the number of these deaths was made between 2000 and 2015, but gains largely stagnated, with the situation even reversing in some cases after this period.
According to a United Nations report by the World Health Organization (WHO), the global maternal mortality rate fell by 34.3% between 2000 and 2020. Belarus recorded the highest decline, while the Venezuela recorded the largest increase, followed by Cyprus, Greece and the United States.
287,000 deaths in 2020
Globally, 287,000 women died during pregnancy or childbirth in 2020 – about one death every two minutes – compared to 446,000 in 2000. But this is only a slight drop from the 309,000 deaths recorded in 2016, when the targets of sustainable development came into force.
Pregnancy remains “an extremely dangerous experience for millions of people around the world who do not have access to respectful and high-quality health care”, lamented Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General of WHO, in a press release. “These new statistics show the urgent need to ensure that every woman and girl has access to essential health services before, during and after childbirth and the possibility of fully exercising their reproductive rights”, said- he added.
Sub-Saharan Africa hard hit
The number of these deaths has increased or stagnated in almost all regions of the world in recent years, with the exception of Australia, New Zealand and Central and South Asia. In two of the eight United Nations regions – Europe/North America and Latin America/Caribbean – the maternal mortality rate even increased between 2016 and 2020, by 17% and 15% respectively. These deaths are largely concentrated in the poorest regions of the world and in countries affected by conflict.
In 2020, about 70% of all these deaths were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa, where the maternal mortality rate is “136 times higher than in Australia and New Zealand” which record the lowest figures, said the author of the report, Dr. Jenny Cresswell, at a press conference. In nine countries facing severe humanitarian crises (Yemen, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic, Chad, Sudan and Afghanistan), the maternal mortality rate was more than double the global average .
Global shortage of 900,000 midwives
The leading causes of these deaths are severe bleeding, high blood pressure, pregnancy-related infections, complications from unsafe abortions, and underlying conditions that may be aggravated by pregnancy (such as HIV/AIDS and malaria), all of which are preventable and treatable complications, according to the WHO. The organization stresses the importance of prenatal checks and postnatal care and says it is “essential” for women to be in control of their reproductive health, particularly around decisions about having children and when, so they can plan and space them pregnancies.
“We can and must do better by investing urgently in family planning and closing the global shortage of 900,000 midwives,” said UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem. , in the press release. According to WHO’s Dr Anshu Banerjee, the statistics since 2020 – which are not yet known – look bleak due to the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis.