He Trends in maternal mortality The report was published by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the UN Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency, UNFPA, in the observance of World Health Day on April 7.
It shows that maternal deaths decreased by 40 percent between 2000 and 2023, largely due to better access to essential health services.
However, the pace of improvement has slowed down significantly since 2016, and approximately 260,000 women died in 2023 due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth, or approximately one death every two minutes.
Urgent action is needed
As help funds reduce countries to collect vital services for maternal, newborn and childhood health, UN agencies appeal to urgent action to prevent maternal deaths, particularly in humanitarian environments where numbers are already alarmingly high.
“While this report shows flashes of hope, the data also highlight how dangerous pregnancy in much of the world today, despite the fact that there are solutions to prevent and treat the complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths,” said the CEO of WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
“In addition to guaranteeing access to quality maternity care, it will be essential to strengthen the underlying health and reproductive rights of women and girls, factors that support their perspective of healthy results during pregnancy and beyond.”
Pregnancy and pandemic
The report also provides the first global story of the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on maternal survival.
It is estimated that 40,000 women died due to pregnancy or childbirth in 2021, increasing to 282,000 in 2022 and 322,000 the following year.
This increase was linked not only to direct complications caused by COVID-19, but also generalized interruptions to maternity services, which highlights the importance of ensuring that this attention is available during pandemics and other emergencies.
Invest in midwives
“When a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth, her baby's life is also at risk. Too too often, both are lost due to causes that we know how to prevent,” said UNICEF executive director, Catherine Russell.
With global fund cuts, putting more mothers at risk, especially in the most fragile environments, “the world must urgently invest in midwives, nurses and community health workers to ensure that each mother and the baby have the opportunity to survive and prosper,” he added.
Inequalities and decelerations
The report also highlights persistent inequalities between regions and countries, as well as unequal progress.
With the decrease in maternal mortality by around 40 percent between 2000 and 2023, sub -Saharan Africa achieved significant profits. It was also among only three UN regions to see significant falls after 2015, being the other Australia and New Zealand, and Central and South Asia.
However, sub -Saharan Africa still represented approximately 70 percent of the global maternal deaths in 2023 due to high poverty rates and multiple conflicts.
Meanwhile, five regions stagnated in El Progreso after 2015: North Africa and Western Asia, the east and southeast of Asia, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
A midwife that visits pregnant women in a shelter for internal displaced people in Sudan.
A global responsibility
Dr. Natalia Kanem, Executive Director of UNFPA, confirmed that access to quality maternal health services is a right, not a privilege.
He emphasized the urgent responsibility of building recurring health systems that safeguard the lives of pregnant and newborn women.
“By increasing the supply chains, the workforce of theion and the breakdown data necessary to identify the most at risk, we can and we must end the tragedy of the preventable maternal deaths and their enormous toll in families and societies,” he said.
Childbirth in crisis environments
The report also highlighted the difficult situation of pregnant women living in humanitarian emergencies, facing some of the greatest risks worldwide. Almost two thirds of world maternal deaths now occur in countries affected by fragility or conflict.
Beyond guaranteeing critical services during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal period, the report emphasized the importance of efforts to improve the general health of women by improving access to family planning services, as well as the prevention of underlying health conditions that increase risks, such as anemia, malaria and non -communicable diseases.
In addition, it is also vital to ensure that girls remain in school, and that they and women have knowledge and resources to protect their health.
