The humanitarian aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) released a report March 7 stating that approximately 1,000 women die every day in childbirth or from preventable complications that occur during pregnancies. The report, “Maternal Death: The Avoidable Crisis,” was released in advance of International Women’s Day.
The group provides obstetric care in approximately 30 countries, including Pakistan, Somalia, Haiti and South Sudan, and has extensive experience offering life-saving support during humanitarian crises. Kara Blackburn, a women’s health advisor for MSF, noted that 15 percent of pregnancies worldwide face life-threatening complications. She said, “Women need access to quality emergency obstetric care whether they live in Sydney, Port-au-Prince, or Mogadishu.”
Blackburn further noted that many deaths are preventable: “It is an ongoing tragedy that we are still seeing so many women die in childbirth, when we know that the provision of quality care at the time of delivery can have a direct impact.”
