Every Two Minutes, a Woman Dies During Pregnancy or Childbirth

Since UNFPA started working in 1969, the number – and rate – of women dying from complications of pregnancy or childbirth has been cut in half.

Yet 808 women still die every day from entirely preventable causes related to pregnancy or childbirth. This is about one woman every two minutes.

UNFPA promotes safe motherhood everywhere. By training healthcare professionals, supporting emergency obstetric care, and providing necessary equipment and resources no matter the circumstances, UNFPA strives to end all preventable maternal deaths by 2030.

808Women

die every day from preventable causes during pregnancy or childbirth

21,000Midwives

trained and equipped with supplies to save mothers' lives in 2019

47,272Maternal deaths

averted thanks to UNFPA-supplied contraception in 2019

UNFPA's Safe Motherhood Programs

No woman should die while giving life. UNFPA works around the world ensuring that women have the care and resources they need to survive pregnancy and childbirth.

News

Health workers in West Africa “in daily danger” while providing reproductive health services

GODOMEY, Benin/ASSAHOUN, Togo/CONAKRY, Guinea As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to spread, health workers in West Africa say it has been
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Pregnant indigenous women in Panama face COVID-19 fears, lack of transport

June 11, 2020 GNÄBE BUGLÉ REGION, Panama – Carmen was two days into an excruciating labour when she was carried to
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In war-torn Yemen, life-threatening pregnancy complication finds a happy ending

SANA’A, Yemen – Twenty-three-year-old Amani, from Shabwa Governorate in southern Yemen, waited years to have a child. But when she finally
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COVID-19 strikes Yemen as humanitarian funding dries up

SANA’A, Yemen – On 10 April, Yemen announced its first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19. Since then, 34 more cases and 7 deaths have
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Telling her story: five women on the debilitating impact of obstetric fistula

Obstetric fistula is one of the most dangerous and most misunderstood birth injuries.   It occurs when a woman experiences prolonged labor–often for several days-
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Pandemic heightens vulnerabilities of persons with disabilities who require reproductive health care

UNITED NATIONS, New York/FRANCISTOWN, Botswana, RAWALPINDI, Pakistan – Even under normal circumstances, persons with disabilities face discrimination, high rates of gender-based violence,
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COVID-19 strikes Yemen as humanitarian funding dries up

SANA’A, Yemen – On 10 April, Yemen announced its first laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19. Since then, 34 more cases and 7 deaths have
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Motherhood during Coronavirus

Update July 6, 2020: though UNFPA does not have any programming in the United States, American mothers still deserve care.
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Ethiopia’s midwives grapple with the COVID-19 while ensuring safe delivery

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia – Today Ethiopia has more than 70 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a fact that has placed the country’s midwives
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UNFPA cares for healthcare workers during coronavirus

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed everyone’s lives, but it has left the elderly, pregnant women, and frontline healthcare workers especially vulnerable.   The
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