What will it take to eliminate preventable maternal deaths?

Abstract

When the UN Commission on the Status of Women met in March, 2012, it adopted a ground-breaking resolution calling for the elimination of preventable maternal mortality. 1 UN Economic and Social CouncilCommission on the Status of Women. Fifty-sixth session. Eliminating maternal mortality and morbidity through the empowerment of women. Advanced unedited version, March 9, 2012. http://www.un.org/womenwatch/daw/csw/csw56/resolutions_advance_versions/maternal_mort_CSW56_res_advance.pdf Google Scholar With this important goal in mind, Saifuddin Ahmed and colleagues’ results 2 Ahmed S Li Q Liu L Tsui AO Maternal deaths averted by contraceptive use: an analysis of 172 countries. Lancet. 2012; (published online July 10.)http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0140-6736(12)60478-4 Google Scholar documented in The Lancet suggest that contraceptive use can avert more than half of maternal deaths. The investigators used data from three 2010 databases (UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group, UN World Contraceptive Use, and UN World Population Prospects) to estimate the number of maternal deaths averted by contraceptive use in 172 countries with a counterfactual approach. Using a second model, they made the same estimation for 167 countries and estimated the effect of meeting the unmet need for family planning. The methods used are well described and seem robust, and the findings are consistent with earlier work. Maternal deaths averted by contraceptive use: an analysis of 172 countriesNumbers of unwanted pregnancies and unmet contraceptive need are still high in many developing countries. We provide evidence that use of contraception is a substantial and effective primary prevention strategy to reduce maternal mortality in developing countries. Full-Text PDF