The estimates for 2013 that I present here are the seventh in a series of studies conducted by the UN agencies and World Bank. They are based on the study reported in the Trends and Maternal Mortality 1990 to 2013 document. A total of 183 countries and territories with populations of at least 100,000, were included in this latest study representing not quite 100% of all births taking place globally. About 37% of these countries and territories had good civil registration systems. The remaining countries did not. So, the estimates are based on the kind of alternative data sources mentioned earlier, and on statistical modeling. The great news is that globally, the maternal mortality rate has fallen by 45% between 1990 and 2013. Moreover, all millennium development goal, or MGD regions of the world have experienced considerable reductions in maternal death. There were an estimated 280,000 maternal deaths in 2013. This translates to an MMR of 210 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. The range of uncertainty indicates that the true MMR could be as low as 160, and as high as 290 deaths per hun, 100,000 live births. An MMR of 210 is really very difficult to grasp. It means that, even with a reduction of 45% in the MMR. About 800 women someone's mother, daughter, wife, or friend, die every day somewhere in the world. Let's take a closer look at the data. This table shows estimates of the global and regional MMRs. The range of uncertainty in the MMRs. The actual number of maternal deaths. And the adult lifetime risk of maternal death. These estimates reveal the stark discrepancies in maternal death experienced by women, depending on where they live in the world. As you can see, the so-called developing regions account for 99% of all maternal deaths. Stated another way, the MMR in the developing regions is 14 times higher than in developed regions, 230 versus 16 deaths per 100,000 live births. In terms of sheer numbers, Sub-Saharan Africa alone accounts for 62% of deaths, followed by Southern Asia, with 24% of deaths. Taken together, that is 86% of all maternal deaths worldwide. Think about that. The World Health Organization categories the MMR as extremely high if it is greater than 1000. Very high if it's between 500 and 999. High if it is between 300 and 499 and moderate if it is 100 to 299. An MMR of less than 100 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births is considered to be low. While none of the regions had an extremely high MMR, Sub-Saharan Africa was the only developing region with a very high MMR. Of the remaining developing regions, Southeastern and Southern Asia and Oceania had moderate MMR's, while Eastern, Central, and Western Asia, the caucuses. Northern Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean each had a low MMR. This map shows countries categorized by color according to their MMR. The darker the color, the higher the MMR. Sierra Leone is estimated to have the highest MMR at 1,100. A further 15 countries, all in Sub-Saharan Africa, had very high MMRs. Only two countries outside the Sub-Saharan African region, had very high MMRs, Afghanistan and Haiti. In contrast, only two countries inside the Sub-Saharan African region had a low MMR, Cape Verde and Mauritius. In terms of absolute numbers the two countries that accounted for one-third of all global maternal deaths are India at 17%, and Nigeria at 14% due in part to their large populations. From the perspective of adult life time risk of maternal death. We see a perhaps more disturbing picture. Globally, a woman's risk in maternal death is 1 in 90. For the developed countries, her risk is 1 in 3700, while in developing countries, it's 1 in 52. In Sub-Saharan Africa, a woman's lifetime risk of a maternal death is 1 in 38. At the country level, women in Chad and Somalia face the highest risk of maternal death, 1 in 15 and 1 in 18 respectively. One of the greatest challenges for Sub-Saharan Africa is HIV. While the proportion of maternal deaths attributed to HIV worldwide is relatively small at 2.6%. The countries of Sub-Saharan Africa account for 91% of these deaths. The proportion of maternal deaths attributed to HIV in Sub-Saharan Africa was 3.8% of all maternal deaths. Within Sub-Saharan Africa, South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland, Zambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Mozambique and the Gabon has had a proportion of maternal deaths attributed to HIV of 10% or more.
