Did you know a woman dies every 2 minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth?

A new World Health Organization report found that maternal mortality rates have either increased or remained the same in nearly all regions of the world in the past five years. Maternal deaths continue to be largely concentrated in the lowest income areas of the world and the countries most affected by conflict.

Team Newsable

First Published Feb 23, 2023, 12:04 PM IST | Last Updated Feb 23, 2023, 12:04 PM IST

A woman dies every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth complications, despite maternal mortality rates dropping by a third in 20 years, the United Nations said. Rates considerably decreased between 2000 and 2015, but between 2016 and 2020, they largely stabilised, and in some areas, they even began to rise, according to the UN.

According to a study by the World Health Organization and other UN organisations, the total maternal mortality rate decreased by 34.3 percent over a 20-year span, from 339 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 2000 to 223 maternal deaths in 2020.

However, that implies that in 2020, there will be about 800 deaths of women per day, or one every two minutes.

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Belarus recorded the biggest decline -- down 95.5 percent -- while Venezuela saw the highest increase. Between 2000 and 2015, the biggest rise was in the United States.

As the head of the WHO, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Pregnancy should be a time of great optimism and a positive experience for all women, but sadly it is still a shockingly dangerous experience for millions around the world."

The urgent need to guarantee every woman and girl has access to vital health services and can completely exercise their reproductive rights is made clear by these new figures, he added.

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Only two of the eight UN areas saw a decrease in maternal death rates between 2016 and 2020, according to the report. Australia and New Zealand saw a 35 per cent decrease and Central and Southern Asia saw a 16 per cent decrease. The incidence increased by 17% in Europe and North America and by 15% in South America and the Caribbean. It stalled in other places.

In Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, Chad, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria and Yemen -- all facing severe humanitarian crises -- rates were more than twice the global average.

In order for women to plan and schedule childbirth to safeguard their health, the WHO stated that it was "critical" that they have control over their reproductive health, especially regarding whether or not to have children.

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