A pregnant woman has a blood test at the Government Maternity Hospital in Hyderabad, India. If a woman tests positive for HIV, the right treatment can help to stop her from passing it on to her unborn child.
UNICEF/India/2004/Bergerson
More than 500,000 women die every year from problems related to pregnancy and childbirth. Tens of thousands more experience complications during pregnancy, many of which are life-threatening for the women and their children, or leave them with severe disabilities. Since 1990, complications related to pregnancy and childbirth have killed an estimated 10 million women globally.
In developing countries, these issues are more prominent. For example, in the developing world, a woman has a 1 in 76 lifetime risk of maternal death, compared with a probability of only 1 in 8,000 for women in developed countries- 99 per cent of maternal and newborn mortality occurs in the developing world, where more than 50 per cent of women still deliver without the assistance of skilled health personnel. Complications in pregnancy are also the leading cause of death for girls aged 15-19 in developing countries
Nearly 10 million children die before their fifth birthday each year and over 200 million children are not developing to their full potential . Medical care for children should therefore start before they're even born. Looking after the health of pregnant women leads to healthier babies, who are more likely to survive and less likely to be orphaned. Children stand a better chance in life if their mothers are there to look after them. Because of the importance of this, reducing by three-quarters the number of mothers dying in childbirth is the fifth Millennium Development Goal.
Antenatal care – care during pregnancy – can include a vaccination to prevent tetanus, an insecticide-treated bed-net to prevent malaria, screenings for anaemia, and counseling for a safe delivery. Many children who are HIV-positive are infected by their mothers during pregnancy, birth or breastfeeding, but this can be prevented with the right treatment. It's therefore very important that pregnant women are tested for HIV and offered treatment prior to giving birth. These are all factors that help to make sure that the mother remains healthy during pregnancy and childbirth and gives her child the best start in life.
Research also shows that if pregnant women have access to health services, it makes it more likely that a trained midwife, doctor or birth attendant will help with the birth. This can mean the difference between life and death for both mother and baby. But these services aren't available to many women, especially in rural areas in poor countries. They don't always have money or transport to get the services they need.
How UNICEF helps
UNICEF, working with governments and partners, can assist in developing home-based maternal and newborn care programmes and/or community women's groups, giving support and education to pregnant women in developing countries when healthcare provision is not widespread.