Deaths to women that are associated with pregnancy and childbirth fall under the category of maternal mortality. There are more than 500,000 maternal deaths each year in the world, of which almost all (98%) occur in developing nations, but even in the United States two or three women die each day of pregnancy-related causes. Regionally, the lifetime risk of maternal death is highest in Africa, where 1 in every 16 women is likely to be a victim. The risk of maternal death is 1 in 65 in Asia, 1 in 130 in Latin America, but is dramatically lower—1 in 1,800 women—in high-income nations. It is also estimated that for each woman who dies of complications of labor and delivery, at least 30 and possibly as many as 100 women survive childbirth but suffer from disease, disability, or other physical damage as a result of the complications of pregnancy.
An accurate assessment of maternal mortality rates is difficult to obtain, since the areas with the highest rates are often the same places that...
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Suggested Reading
Sionke, J., & Donnay, F. (2001). Maternal mortality update 1998–1999: A report on UNFPA support for maternal mortality prevention. New York: United Nations Population Fund. http://www.unfpa.org/rh/mothers/documents/cmmupdate99.pdf
U.S. Centers for Disease Control. (2000). Safe motherhood: Preventing pregnancy-related illnesses and death. http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/bb_motherhood/index.htm
World Health Organization. (2001). Maternal mortality in 1995: Estimates developed by WHO, UNICEF, and UNFPA. Geneva: Author. http://www.unfpa.org/mothers/pdf/mmin1995.pdf
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Christensen, E., Weeks, J.R. (2004). Maternal Mortality. In: Encyclopedia of Women’s Health. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_262
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-306-48113-0_262
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