MDG 5: Improve Maternal Health

The Goal: Improve Maternal Health

What Do We Want To Achieve?

  • Reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters
  • Achieve universal access to reproductive health

What Have We Already Achieved?

  • Between 1990 to 2012, maternal mortality has decreased by 47%
  • During the last 10 years, the number of deliveries attended to by skilled health personnel increased from 55% to 63% and the percentage of women who received prenatal care increased from 63% to 80%

What Challenges Remain?

  • Every minute, a woman dies due to complications from childbirth, more than half a million worldwide per year
  • Health coverage remains low in sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, regions where the majority of deaths are concentrated