Progress on childbirth mortality rates ‘is lagging’

A maternal and child health organisation has raised concerns that not enough progress is being made on preventing deaths during childbirth.

Countdown to 2015 has released a study showing that up to half a million women globally still die in childbirth each year, despite significant advances over the past decades.

In addition, the report showed that 3.6 million newborns fail to survive the first month, while an additional 5.2 million die before the age of five.

According to Unicef figures, this means that 39 countries are currently showing insufficient progress on Millennium Development Goals relating to maternal and child survival, while 18 show no progress or a worsening of child mortality.

Dr Joy Lawn, a newborn health expert at Save the Children, said: “Up to three million newborns each year can be saved with simple approaches, like cutting the cord with a clean blade or antibiotics to treat infections.”

A separate report published this week by the Centre for Maternal and Child Enquiries found that just as many women are dying in pregnancy and childbirth in the UK as they were 20 years ago, largely due to complications relating to obesity and advanced age.