Alarming! A Woman Dies Every 2 Minutes Due To Pregnancy Or Childbirth, Says UN Report

"Pregnancy, a time of immense hope and a positive experience for all women, is tragically still a shockingly dangerous experience for millions around the world," said World Health Organisation (WHO) Chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on February 23, 2023. The statement comes as the United Nations (UN) released a worrying report about maternal mortality rates. As per data collated by the WHO (a specialized agency of the UN), a woman was found to die every two minutes due to pregnancy or childbirth-related complications. Despite the numbers having dropped by a third in 20 years, the rates largely stagnated between 2016 and 2020.

A Death Every Two Minutes

Despite maternal mortality rates having dropped by a third in two decades, a woman died every two minutes due to complications associated with pregnancy or childbirth, said the UN on February 23. The overall mortality rate dropped by 34.3 percent from 339 maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births in 2000 to 223 in 2020. However, the numbers stagnated between 2016 and 2020 and even reversed in some regions. Nearly 800 women died every day in 2020, which was close to about one death every two minutes.

Belarus recorded the most significant decline, with the rates going down by 95.5 percent, and Venezuela saw the highest increase. Between 2000 and 2015, the most significant rise in maternal mortality rates was seen in the United States. In the following years, between 2016 and 2020, the numbers dropped in only two of the eight UN regions - New Zealand and Australia by 35 percent and 16 percent in Central and Southern Asia. The deaths remained largely concentrated in the world's poorest and conflict-affected regions.

The new statistics published by the UN emphasize an urgent need to ensure every woman and girl has access to necessary health services. Ghebreyesus noted that accessibility should also come with the need for them to be able to exercise their reproductive rights fully.

Nations Witnessing Preventable & Treatable Deaths

The rate spiked up in Europe and Northern America by 17 percent and in Latin America and the Caribbean by 15 percent. Greece and Cyprus were among the two European countries that saw a significant increase in mortality rate. Head of the UN Population Fund, Natalia Kanem, said the number of women "needlessly" dying was "unconscionable."

In 2020, about 70 percent of global maternal deaths were in sub-Saharan Africa, where the numbers were "136 times bigger" than in Australia and New Zealand. This was also the time when regions such as Afghanistan, the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Chad, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen, were facing severe humanitarian crises. According to an NDTV report, this is reflected in their maternal deaths, which are twice the global average.

The WHO conveyed that it is "critical" that women gain control over their reproductive health, particularly in terms of "if and when to have children." In this manner, they could plan and space childbearing in a manner that prioritizes their health as well. Most maternal deaths are preventable and treatable, but the necessary care does not reach the people. According to the report, the leading causes of death of mothers included severe bleeding, infections, underlying conditions such as HIV/AIDS, and complications from unsafe abortions, among others.

Safe pregnancies and deliveries fall under every woman's reproductive health rights. The UN noted, "We can and must do better by urgently investing in family planning and filling the global shortage of 900,000 midwives." The report has covered data only up to 2020, but WHO has conveyed that statistics ever since then have also looked bleak, with the world coping with the Covid-19 pandemic and the economic crisis.

Also Read: Maternal Mortality Ratio Of India Decreases By 10 Points, To Hit Target Of 70/Lakh Live Births By 2030