According to the reference website, since the dawn of this day alone, over 442 mothers have died during childbirth.
The World Health Organisation says women die as a result of complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth.
WHO says while most of these complications develop during pregnancy, most are preventable or treatable.
“Other complications may exist before pregnancy but are worsened during pregnancy, especially if not managed as part of the woman’s care. The major complications that account for nearly 75 percent of all maternal deaths are severe bleeding (mostly bleeding after childbirth); infections (usually after childbirth); high blood pressure during pregnancy (pre-eclampsia and eclampsia); complications from delivery and unsafe abortion.
“The remainder are caused by or associated with infections such as malaria or related to chronic conditions like cardiac diseases or diabetes,” WHO said.
The global health body noted that the high number of maternal deaths in some areas of the world reflects inequalities in access to quality health services and highlights the gap between rich and poor. The maternal mortality ratio in low-income countries in 2017 is 462 per 100,000 live births versus 11 per 100,000 live births in high-income countries.
“In 2017, according to the Fragile States Index, 15 countries were considered to be “very high alert” or “high alert” being a fragile state (South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, Yemen, Syria, Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Afghanistan, Iraq, Haiti, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Nigeria and Ethiopia), and these 15 countries had MMRs in 2017 ranging from 31 (Syria) to 1150 (South Sudan).
“The risk of maternal mortality is highest for adolescent girls under 15 years old and complications in pregnancy and childbirth are higher among adolescent girls age 10-19 (compared to women aged 20-24).
“Women in less developed countries have, on average, many more pregnancies than women in developed countries, and their lifetime risk of death due to pregnancy is higher. A woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death is the probability that a 15-year-old woman will eventually die from a maternal cause. In high-income countries, this is one in 5400, versus one in 45 in low-income countries,” WHO said.
Source: HealthWise
