Strong decline in maternal mortality

Target to defeat maternal mortality by 2030 is far from being achieved
The maternal mortality rate has fallen sharply in recent years. In 1990, about 532,000 mothers died during or shortly after birth, compared to about 303,000 women last year. This corresponds to an estimated maternal mortality rate of 216 cases per 100,000 live births. By comparison, in 1990 the figure was 330 cases per year. Maternal mortality means that a mother dies during childbirth or a maximum of six weeks thereafter.

Dr. Flavia Bustreo, Deputy Director-General for Family, Women's and Child Health at the World Health Organization (WHO), said that over the past 25 years, the risk of dying from birth or shortly thereafter was nearly halved. This was considered a big step forward, but was not enough. A recent study by WHO virtually calculated that it is possible to avoid these deaths by 2030 almost completely, said the physician in a statement.

Childbirth complications can easily endanger the mother's life if medical care is inappropriate. (Image: GordonGrand / fotolia.com)

Maternal mortality will be barely reduced in fifteen years in some countries
Achieving the goal of a drastic reduction in maternal mortality, however, still requires a lot of effort, emphasizes Dr. med. Babatunde Osotimehin, executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). There are many countries with a high maternal mortality rate, which will make barely noticeable progress in the next fifteen years, warned the physician. It is urgent to increase the number of available midwives and other health professionals in such countries, Osotimehin continued.

Mothers should be protected globally through quality healthcare
Ensuring access to quality health services during pregnancy and childbirth helps to save lives. Essential health measures include, for example, better hygiene, as this is the only way to reduce the risk of infection. Injecting oxytocin immediately after birth may help to reduce the risk of major bleeding, experts say. A faster identification and management of severe bleeding could cause potentially fatal diseases such as pregnancy hypertension would be greatly reduced, the researchers of the study.

Only nine countries reach their planned destination
Despite a general global improvement on maternal mortality, only nine countries reached the goal of reducing maternal mortality rates during or shortly after birth by 75 percent by 2015. These countries include Bhutan, Cabo Verde, Cambodia, Iran, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Rwanda and Timor-Leste. Despite the sharp decline, maternal mortality is still well above the global average in some of these countries, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta said in a statement.

In order to ensure the survival of mothers, women and girls in particular should be better informed about the subject. Continuing education provides women with the knowledge they need to question traditional practices that can be a threat to the health of both mother and child. About 99 percent of all maternal deaths occurred in 2015 in developing countries. The biggest improvement of all regions was seen in East Asia. There, the maternal mortality rate dropped from about 95 deaths to 27 deaths per 100,000 live births. This corresponds to a reduction of 72 percent. In more developed regions, maternal mortality rates dropped by 48 percent, from 32 deaths to 12 cases per 100,000 live births.

New strategy in the fight against maternal mortality
A new Global Strategy for Women, Child and Youth Health was launched by the UN Secretary-General in September 2015. The goal is to reduce maternal mortality to less than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births worldwide. To meet the ambitious global goal, the reduction in deaths during or shortly after birth must be more than tripled each year. This would correspond to a reduction of 7.5 percent per year. Between 1990 and 2015, however, the annual reduction was only about 2.3 percent. Among other things, the strategy highlights the need to strengthen health systems in general. Cooperation between the different sectors needs to be encouraged and the quality of care and treatment should be improved. The strategy stresses that special attention is urgently needed, especially in humanitarian crises. The maternal mortality rate is strongly influenced by such circumstances.

Much more work needed
The results of the study show that global maternal mortality has decreased enormously in recent years. A survey of data from many different countries brought good and accurate results. From these values, the worldwide reduction of maternal mortality in numbers could then be determined. According to the experts, the review of maternal mortality must be further developed in order to understand where, why and when mothers die. Only then can it be determined what exactly needs to be done to prevent similar deaths. There is still much to be done to develop complete and accurate global civil and vital registry systems covering all births, deaths and causes of death. (As)