EFN

There’s no lack of irony in the fact that pregnancy, the very agent of life, is one of the leading causes of death in the developing world among women. According to UNICEF’s 2009 State of the World Children report, approximately 99 percent of deaths around the world are the result of pregnancy and complications from childbirth in developing countries, and the risk of death during pregnancy is 300 times higher for mothers in developing countries than in their developed counterparts.

The report analyzed the rates of maternal mortality in many developing countries, arriving at the conclusion that a newborn in one of the least developed countries is nearly 14 times as likely to die in the initial month following childbirth than one born in a developed country. “The divide between the industrialized countries and developing regions, particularly the least developed ones, is perhaps greater on maternal mortality than on almost any other issue,” the report stated.

According to UNICEF’s findings, the top ten countries with the highest risk of maternal death due to pregnancy or complications are Niger, Afghanistan, Sierra Leone, Chad, Angola, Liberia, Somalia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Guinea-Bissau, and Mali. In Niger the shocking reality is that 1 in every 7 mothers faces the very real possibility of dying from childbirth over the course of her lifetime; in the United States, by comparison, only 1 in 4,800 faces the same risk.

UNICEF Executive Director Ann M. Venemen points to increased education as a means of lowering these alarmingly high statistics in developing countries; although medical attention is certainly beneficial, Venemen noted that in order to have a lasting effect, the crux of the issue must be addressed. “Saving the lives of mothers and their newborns requires more than just medical intervention,” Veneman said. “Educating girls is pivotal to improving maternal and neonatal health and also benefits families and societies.”