‘Alarming setbacks’ in mortality rates among pregnant women, research shows

Progress to cut the number of women dying in pregnancy or childbirth has stalled or even reversed in recent years, with a death recorded every two minutes, the United Nations has said.

Years of gains had begun to plateau even before the pandemic and there had been “alarming setbacks for women’s health,” according to a new report from several UN agencies, including the World Health Organization (WHO).

Maternal mortality rates had fallen widely in the first 15 years of the century, but since 2016, they had only dropped in two UN regions: Australia and New Zealand, and in Central and Southern Asia.

The rate went up in Europe and North America by 17% and in Latin America and the Caribbean by 15%. Elsewhere it stagnated.

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Source: The Telegraph, 23 February 2023