Maternal Health and Women Deliver

Maternal health is a global responsibility. Currently, U.S. spends approximately less than one twentieth of 1 percent of the amount spent on our military for maternal health (Kristoff & WuDunn, 2009). The equivalent of 5 jumbo jets’ worth of women die in labor each year (Kristoff & WuDunn, 2009). In addition, for every woman who dies in childbirth, at least 10 additional women suffer significant injuries such as fistulas (a conditional rarely seen in the West) and serious tearing.

Save a Girl, Change the World would like to acknowledge the organization: Women Deliver. www.womendeliver.org

Women Deliver is a global advocacy organization bringing together voices from around the world to call for action against maternal death.

Women Deliver works globally to generate political commitment and financial investment for fulfilling Millennium Development Goal #5 — to reduce maternal mortality and achieve universal access to reproductive health.

Women Deliver’s message is that maternal health is both a human right and a practical necessity for sustainable development.
• Every minute of every day, a woman dies needlessly of pregnancy-related causes. That means that more than 560,000 women and girls die every year. Almost all of these deaths (99%) occur in the developing world.
• Ten million women are lost in every generation.
• Four million newborn babies die every year, also from causes that are mainly preventable and typically linked to the mother's health.
• Huge disparities exist between rich and poor countries, and between the rich and poor in all countries.
• One in eight Afghan women will die from complications of pregnancy and childbirth, and one in seven in Niger.
• One in 4,800 women will die of these causes in the United States, and one in 17,400 in Sweden.
(Women Deliver, 2010)

Reference
Kristoff, N. & WuDunn, S. (2009). Half the sky: Turning oppression into opportunity for women worldwide. New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf

Women Deliver (2010). Invest in women: It pays. Retrieved on February 19, 2010 from www.womendeliver.org