Women’s Health

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Fact: Every minute a woman dies in childbirth somewhere in the world — 536,000 deaths per year — and almost all of them are preventable. While most other health indicators have improved in low-income countries over the last decades, maternal mortality and morbidity remain unconquered. Up to 15 percent of pregnant women experience potentially fatal complications — 20 million women each year. Approximately 5 percent of pregnant women — 7 million women — experience complications that require surgery, most often a caesarean section, and many are without access to emergency obstetric care. One result is 2 million women living with a disability such as obstetric fistula. 35 percent of pregnant women in low-income countries do not have access to or contact with health personnel prior to delivery. More than 60 percent of maternal deaths take place during delivery or in the immediate post-partum period. The most critical interventions for safe motherhood are universal access to contraception, a health worker with midwifery skill present at every birth and access to transportation to a more comprehensive level of obstetric care in case of an emergency.

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