Improving healthcare for mothers and pregnant women
Maternal Health Factsheet (278
kb) | Maternal
Health Progress Report(831
kb)
Did you know that a poor woman in Malawi, Ethiopia or Nepal is 200 times more likely to die as a result of pregnancy and childbirth than a woman in the UK? Or that every year, more than 500,000 women die from mostly treatable complications of pregnancy and childbirth and many more are disabled?
That’s why we’re working towards the Millennium Development Goal of cutting the maternal mortality ratio by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015.
Whether the problem lies in the timing and spacing of their pregnancies or poor access to emergency care, DFID is making a difference by making it easier for poor women to see a midwife or doctor, get emergency treatment during their labour and have better access to family planning services and information so they can choose when and how they become pregnant.
DFID's bilateral expenditure on programmes which contribute towards maternal
health has increased by 34% over the last three years (2002 - 2005) from
£147.5 million to £198 million. This is up from
around £56 million in 1997/08.
We are also contributing to multilateral agencies covering women's health, such
as the UN Population Fund and the World Health Organisation.
More work needs to be done to tackle the ‘three delays’ in maternal health, where the time taken to decide to get help, get to the help and for the help to actually be provided can make all the difference between life and death.
In the long term, real progress will depend on improvements being made in other areas in developing countries such as the low status of women, poor nutrition and better education.
The new International Health Partnership is an agreement with donors,
funding agencies and developing countries that aims to accelerate progress
towards meeting the health MDGs as part of a renewed ongoing high-level
global commitment.
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Last updated: 04 January 2008
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