Why mothers die

The risk of pregnancy-related deaths for black women is 3 to 4 times higher than those of white women. View the presentation and find out how to earn free continuing education. CDC scientists also provide technical assistance and guidance to support state and local Maternal Mortality Review Committees.

These committees work to identify and review deaths of women who die as a result of pregnancy and develop recommendations to prevent future deaths. Capacity to Review and Prevent Maternal Deaths. The site promotes the translation of findings into action and also serves as a resource for best practices in maternal mortality review. A key element of this work is the Maternal Mortality Review Information Application MMRIA External , a free, new data system for committee review information that, when used, provides stronger, more standardized and detailed data than what was previously available.

The Report from Maternal Mortality Review Committees: A View into Their Critical Role External proposes where we could go as a nation as more states are able to collaborate around a shared data framework and understand how the data can inform prevention activities. The Report from Nine Maternal Mortality Review Committees External shows that most pregnancy-related deaths are preventable and highlights key opportunities for prevention. Reproductive Health. Section Navigation. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Syndicate.

What can women do to prevent a pregnancy-related death? What is CDC doing? It requires more long-term and complex investments in the health system. This is one reason why the pace of decrease slows down. There are a number of reasons, and they are rooted in poverty, inequality and sexism. The majority of women die in poorer, rural areas, where healthcare services are often inadequate or inaccessible, and where there is a severe shortage of trained medical staff.

Women from such areas are less likely to give birth with a skilled health worker than wealthier women. Without professional help, women give birth alone or have to rely on female relatives or traditional birth attendants to support them, putting their lives in grave danger if complications arise.

Women, particularly in rural areas, may live miles from any health centre, and might struggle to pay for the transport to get there if money is tight. Throughout pregnancy, women in poorer countries are much less likely to receive the eight antenatal appointments recommended by the WHO. These appointments are crucial in identifying problems or underlying issues that could cause difficulties in childbirth — if a woman has malaria, for instance, or needs special support because she is HIV-positive.

Millions of women around the world are still unable to decide when or if they want to get married or have children. The largest proportion of women without access to modern contraception is in sub-Saharan Africa. This means many women resort to unsafe, illegal abortions.

Adolescent girls have a particularly high risk of death in childbirth. Last year the WHO found that complications in pregnancy and childbirth, together with unsafe abortion, were the biggest killers globally of girls aged 15 to Hypertension and obstructed labour are among the main causes, since their bodies are not fully developed and ready to give birth. About half of all pregnancies among this cohort are unplanned. No official statistics are collected for younger girls official statistics for reproductive healthcare are only collected for women aged 15 to 49 , but the Guttmacher Institute estimates that in , , babies were born to girls aged 10 to UN member states have signed a resolution to end child marriage but, each year, 7.

Eighteen of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage are found in Africa, the continent with the highest rates of maternal mortality. Despite the recent negative press about the US maternal mortality crisis, some experts express optimism. We need to stay laser-focused on that progress and give women the care they deserve.

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