Maternal deaths fall 34 percent, still above U.N. target

[cory777]

Source: Reuters

Deaths from complications during pregnancy and childbirth have fallen by a third in the past two decades but 1,000 women still die needlessly every day, the World Health Organization said Wednesday.

Women in poorer countries are 36 times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than those in the rich nations, the WHO said, announcing maternal mortality figures that remain far above the United Nations' flagship targets.

"We must do more to reach out to those who are most at risk," UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said, calling for more attention to obstetric care in rural areas, conflict zones and among women living with the HIV virus that causes AIDS.

Some 99 percent of the 358,000 maternal deaths reported in 2008 were in developing countries, and more than half were in sub-Saharan Africa, according to the report launched ahead of a summit in New York on the Millennium Development Goals.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68E19V20100915

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[Rozlee]

1. Hah, that's about to change big time in the U.S.

if Rethugs get back into power this fall. Medicaid is credited with being the reason maternal and child mortality nose-dived in this country after it's inception. Republicans know they can't get rid of such a popular program, but they've signaled their intent to defund it almost to nothing when they get in. Some pro-life. I guess when it's a question of the lives of the poor vs. the pocketbooks of the rich, we know whose wallets will be as deep as the graves of the mothers and children in potters fields.