The 100th anniversary of International Womens Day: Is enough being done to reduce maternal mortality

February 8, 2010 by Keir Philip

“There is no better investment than safe-guarding the lives of mothers,” UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon.

March the 8^th marks the 100^th anniversary of International Women’s Day. It provides an opportunity to question if enough is being done to ensure safe, healthy pregnancies and childbirth, for women throughout the world. We are rapidly approaching the 2015 deadlines for the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDG), of which target 5 is to reduce maternal mortality by 75% from 1990 levels. This has shown the least progress of all the MDG targets.

The vast majority of maternal deaths are preventable. Simple interventions such as family planning facilities; trained health workers being present at delivery; and emergency obstetric care all have a major impact. The lack of such facilities results in the present situation: that 99% of maternal deaths take place in developing countries.

Maternal mortality has wide reaching consequences: destabilizing and tearing apart families, communities, and countries. It is difficult to overstate the importance of improving maternal health. Doing so not only maintains the economic and cultural contributions of central figures of communities; but also provides the next generation with healthy mothers and more stable families to grow up in.

The knowledge exists to prevent many of these deaths and their wider implications, but at present that knowledge is not being sufficiently implemented. So is enough being done? The simple answer is no, not at present. However, the full answer is it could and should be.

For information on how you can contribute to addressing this issue, on March the 8^th and beyond, go to www.whiteribbonalliance.org     

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