Facts on Maternal Health
- 287,000 – estimated number of women who died in 2010 from pregnancy and childbirth complications
- Less than half – fraction of births attended by skilled personnel in Africa and South Asia
- 1 in 4,300 vs. 1 in 31 – woman’s lifetime risk of maternal death in developed and developing countries respectively
- 49 – countries with lower maternal mortality rates than the United States
- 75% – target for reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2015, per Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5)
- 5.5% – estimated annual rate of reduction in maternal mortality between 1990 and 2010 required to meet the 75% target set in MDG 5, but the current rate of decline is only 3.3%
- 1 in 4 – high-burden countries that have made little or no progress on MDG 5 since 1990
- 70% – risk of death within two years for an infant whose mother did not survive delivery
- 10 times – greater likelihood that children whose mother died will leave school, suffer poor health, and die prematurely
- 99% – proportion of maternal deaths that occur in the developing world. The maternal mortality ratio in developing countries is 240 deaths per 100,000 live births versus 16 deaths per 100,000 live births in developed countries
- $15 billion – estimated cost to the world economy in lost productivity of mothers dying from complications of pregnancy and childbirth per year
