Maternal Mortality Remains High In Africa

Maternal mortality remains high in Africa

Almost 300,000 women worldwide die each year from pregnancy or childbirth complications. Shocking figures include 2 million babies dying in the first month of life and approximately 2 million stillborn. Every six seconds a preventable death occur. Kenya is among the five countries where women die from childbirth complications. Countries such as Nigeria, where maternal mortality is very high, are particularly affected. Other high-risk countries include Sierra Leone, where the risk of complications during pregnancy or childbirth is very high, and the Central African Republic, which suffers from a severe health emergency. Other countries with high maternal mortality rates include Sudan, Zambia, and Yemen, which also suffer from limited medical care. So, what are the main causes of maternal mortality? Many women give birth without medical assistance because health facilities are often inaccessible, either due to distance or high costs. Women's socioeconomic status and empowerment play a major role in maternal mortality. Women from poorer regions have less access to medical care. Complications occur during pregnancy and childbirth. These are often preventable but often go untreated in a timely manner, leading to high mortality rates. Preventable birth injuries such as fistulas are another problem exacerbated by a lack of medical care. 7,764 Kenyan women have died since 2020. The lifetime risk of death is 52 percent. Significant progress has been done in reducing maternal mortality. The death rate fell from 594 last year to 530 deaths per 100,000 live births. This represents an improvement of 11 percent. "Forty percent of maternal deaths in sub-Saharan Africa are due to postpartum hemorrhage (28.4 percent) and pre-eclampsia (15.7 percent)," reported UNICEF.