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STORY: UNICEF / MATERNAL DEATHS
TRT: 3:34
SOURCE: UNICEF
RESTRICTIONS: PLEASE CREDIT UNICEF ON SCREEN
LANGUAGE: NATS
DATELINE: PLEASE CHECK SHOTLIST FOR DETAILS
FEBRUARY 2023, ALEPPO, SYRIA
1. Med shot, nurses and midwives adjusting the medical equipment, wiping down and sterilizing the delivery room equipment and surfaces in the delivery room of the national maternity hospital in Aleppo. It is the only public hospital for deliveries and birth services in Aleppo city and its rural area. Around 500 births take place in the hospital every month.
2. Med shot. a mother sitting in a hospital bed while holding her newborn baby wrapped in a blanket
3. Med shot, a doctor taking the mother's blood pressure.
2018, JOSHIBUNGA VILLAGE, NEPAL
3. Wide shot, new mother Sabina Chaudhary and health worker Tulsi Joshi
4. Med shot, health worker Tulsi Joshi examines baby
5. Close up, health worker speaks to new mother
5. Close up, health worker speaks to new mother
6. Close up, new mother speaks to health worker
2018, PAKISTAN
7. Wide shot, new mother Fatima Ahmad and health worker Ishrat Amanat.
8. Med shot, health worker speaks to new mother.
9. Close up, health worker speaking to new mother.
10. Wide shot, health worker gives supplement to new mother.
11. Med shot, health worker speaking to new mother about supplement.
2017, MATERNITY WARD, GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL, ZOMBA, MALAWI, MATERNITY WARD AT LIKANGALA HEALTH CENTRE, MALAWI
12. Med shot, midwife Dorothy Laina Palani with patient in labour
13. Close up, midwife Dorothy Laina Palani with patient in labour
14. Close up, midwife Dorothy Laina Palani with patient in labour
15. Close up, midwife Dorothy Laina Palani with patient in labour
16. Close up, midwifes listening for heartbea
17. Close up, midwifes listening for heartbeat
18. Med shot, women in maternity ward
19. Med shot, midwife treats patient after delivery
2018, NANA ASMA’U CLINIC, YOLA, NIGERIA
20. Wide shot, midwife Rahama Kadafa attends to new mother Hajara Umar.
21. Close up, midwife Rahama Kadafa attends to new mother Hajara Umar.
22. Wide shot, new mother Hajara Umar speaking with community health workers.
23. Close up, new mother Hajara Umar speaking with community health workers.
24. Wide shot, health worker Amilia Mathew attends to patient.
25. Close up, health worker Amilia Mathew attends to patient.
26. Med shot, health worker Amilia Mathew attends to patient.
27. Med shot, health worker Amilia Mathew listens for heatbeat.
28. Close up, health worker Amilia Mathew examines patient.
29 OCTOBER 2024, NOOR-E KHODA CLINIC, BALKH PROVINCE, MAZAR-E-SHARIF, AFGHANISTAN
29. Wide shot, Fahima Azizi, a UNICEF-supported midwife, educates families and pregnant women about the importance of good hygiene and nutrition at Noor Khoda CHC.
30. Wide shot, Fahima Azizi, a UNICEF-supported midwife, educates families and pregnant women about the importance of good hygiene and nutrition at Noor Khoda CHC.
31. Wide shot, Fahima speaks to a pregnant woman.
32. Med shot, Fahima speaks to a pregnant woman and checks her blood pressure.
33. Wide shot, Fahima checks the heartbeat of foetuses.
34. Med shot, Fahima attends to a new born baby. When mothers give birth outside a health facility, or without a healthcare professional to assist them, it increases risk of maternal and neonatal mortality. In case of a birth complication like haemorrhage, fetal distress or other complications, if a woman gives birth outside a facility, there is little chance for a medical professional to intervene. In Afghanistan, one-third of women give birth outside of health facility. Just over 67 per cent of births are attended by a skilled health professional.
Women today are more likely than ever to survive pregnancy and childbirth, according to a major new report released today, but United Nations (UN) agencies highlight the threat of major backsliding as unprecedented aid cuts take effect around the world.
Released on World Health Day, the UN report, Trends in maternal mortality, shows a 40 per cent global decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023 – largely due to improved access to essential health services. Still, the report reveals that the pace of improvement has slowed significantly since 2016, and that an estimated 260,000 women died in 2023 as a result of complications from pregnancy or childbirth – roughly equivalent to one maternal death every two minutes.
The report comes as humanitarian funding cuts are having severe impacts on essential health care in many parts of the world, forcing countries to roll back vital services for maternal, newborn and child health. These cuts have led to facility closures and loss of health workers, while also disrupting supply chains for lifesaving supplies and medicines such as treatments for haemorrhage, pre-eclampsia and malaria – all leading causes of maternal deaths.
Without urgent action, the agencies warn that pregnant women in multiple countries will face severe repercussions – particularly those in humanitarian settings where maternal deaths are already alarmingly high.
“While this report shows glimmers of hope, the data also highlights how dangerous pregnancy still is in much of the world today – despite the fact that solutions exist to prevent and treat the complications that cause the vast majority of maternal deaths,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO). “In addition to ensuring access to quality maternity care, it will be critical to strengthen the underlying health and reproductive rights of women and girls – factors that underpin their prospects of healthy outcomes during pregnancy and beyond.”
The report also provides the first global account of the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on maternal survival. In 2021, an estimated 40,000 more women died due to pregnancy or childbirth – increasing to 322,000 from 282,000 the previous year. This upsurge was linked not only to direct complications caused by COVID-19 but also widespread interruptions to maternity services. This highlights the importance of ensuring such care during pandemics and other emergencies, noting that pregnant women need reliable access to routine services and checks as well as round-the-clock urgent care.
“When a mother dies in pregnancy or childbirth, her baby’s life is also at risk. Too often, both are lost to causes we know how to prevent,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “Global funding cuts to health services are putting more pregnant women at risk, especially in the most fragile settings, by limiting their access to essential care during pregnancy and the support they need when giving birth. The world must urgently invest in midwives, nurses, and community health workers to ensure every mother and baby has a chance to survive and thrive.”
The report highlights persistent inequalities between regions and countries, as well as uneven progress. With maternal mortality declining by around 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023, sub-Saharan Africa achieved significant gains – and was one of just three UN regions alongside Australia and New Zealand, and Central and Southern Asia, to see significant drops after 2015. However, confronting high rates of poverty and multiple conflicts, the sub-Saharan Africa region still counted for approximately 70 per cent of the global burden of maternal deaths in 2023.
Indicating slowing progress, maternal mortality stagnated in five regions after 2015: Northern Africa and Western Asia, Eastern and South-Eastern Asia, Oceania (excluding Australia and New Zealand), Europe and North America, and Latin America and the Caribbean.
“Access to quality maternal health services is a right, not a privilege, and we all share the urgent responsibility to build well-resourced health systems that safeguard the life of every pregnant woman and newborn,” said Dr. Natalia Kanem, UNFPA’s Executive Director. “By boosting supply chains, the midwifery workforce, and the disaggregated data needed to pinpoint those most at risk, we can and must end the tragedy of preventable maternal deaths and their enormous toll on families and societies.”
Pregnant women living in humanitarian emergencies face some of the highest risks globally, according to the report. Nearly two-thirds of global maternal deaths now occur in countries affected by fragility or conflict. For women in these settings, the risks are staggering: a 15-year-old girl faces a 1 in 51 risk of dying from a maternal cause at some point over her lifetime compared to 1 in 593 in more stable countries. The highest risks are in Chad and the Central African Republic (1 in 24), followed by Nigeria (1 in 25), Somalia (1 in 30), and Afghanistan (1 in 40).
Beyond ensuring critical services during pregnancy, childbirth and the postnatal period, the report notes the importance of efforts to enhance women’s overall health by improving access to family planning services, as well as preventing underlying health conditions like anaemias, malaria and noncommunicable diseases that increase risks. It will also be critical to ensure girls stay in school and that women and girls have the knowledge and resources to protect their health.
Urgent investment is needed to prevent maternal deaths. The world is currently off-track to meet the UN’s Sustainable Development Goal target for maternal survival. Globally, the maternal mortality ratio would need to fall by around 15 per cent each year to meet the 2030 target – significantly increasing from current annual rates of decline of around 1.5 per cent.
Notes to editors:
About the data: The SDG target for maternal deaths is for a global maternal mortality ratio (MMR) of less than 70 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births by 2030. The global MMR in 2023 was estimated at 197 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births, down from 211 in 2020 and from 328 in 2000.
The report includes data disaggregated by the following regions, used for SDG reporting: Central Asia and Southern Asia; Sub-Saharan Africa; Northern America and Europe; Latin America & the Caribbean; Western Asia and Northern Africa; Australia and New Zealand; Eastern Asia and South-eastern Asia, and Oceania excluding Australia and New Zealand.
About World Health Day: World Health Day is marked around the world on 7th April. Each year, it draws attention to a specific health topic of concern to people all over the world. The World Health Day 2025 campaign focuses on improving maternal and newborn health and survival with the theme “Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures”. The campaign urges governments and the health community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritize women’s longer-term health and well-being.
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