Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 24) — A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth, according to a United Nations (UN) report which showed that maternal deaths have either increased or stagnated in nearly all regions globally.
Based on UN data released Thursday and covering 2002 to 2020, mortality rates significantly declined only up to 2015, and progress “largely stalled” or even reversed in some cases after that year.
In 2020, pregnancy-related complications killed an estimated 287,000 women worldwide.
The organization noted this is only a slight decrease from the 309,000 deaths in 2016 when its Sustainable Development Goals came into effect.
“These new statistics reveal the urgent need to ensure every woman and girl has access to critical health services before, during and after childbirth, and that they can fully exercise their reproductive rights,” said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), a UN agency.
In two of the eight UN regions – Europe and Northern America, and Latin America and the Caribbean – the report showed mortality rates rose from 2016 to 2020 by 17% and 15%, respectively.
In other parts of the world, numbers generally stagnated.
According to the UN, among the leading causes of the deaths are severe bleeding, high blood pressure, pregnancy-related infections, complications from unsafe abortion, and underlying conditions that can be aggravated by childbearing (such as HIV/AIDS and malaria).
It pointed out that these are all largely preventable and treatable with access to quality healthcare. This also explains why the fatalities are largely concentrated in the poorest and conflict-affected nations.
For instance, the organization said that in 2020, about 70% of all maternal fatalities were recorded in sub-Saharan Africa alone. Meanwhile, in nine countries facing severe humanitarian crises, maternal mortality rates were more than double the world average — with 551 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 223 globally.
“While pregnancy should be a time of immense hope and a positive experience for all women, it is tragically still a shockingly dangerous experience for millions around the world who lack access to high quality, respectful health care,” the WHO chief said.
However, the UN also noted that some areas have still seen notable improvements, including two regions — Australia and New Zealand, and Central and Southern Asia – where mortality rates dropped by 35% and 16%, respectively, from 2016 to 2020.
Thirty-one other countries also saw a decline in figures, it said.
Over 1M more deaths by 2030
If steps are not taken to accelerate progress, the world risks losing the lives of over 1 million more women by 2030, according to the report.
The UN said community-centered primary health care facilities and programs should be provided and adequately funded. This includes proper training of health workers and strengthening supply chains for medical products.
Also critical is ensuring women can exercise control over their reproductive health, particularly the decision on whether or not to have children and when to have them, the organization said.
“We can and must do better by urgently investing in family planning and filling the global shortage of 900,000 midwives so that every woman can get the lifesaving care she needs,” UN Population Fund Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem added.
