Millennium Development Goal 5 is to improve maternal health, and its bold target is to reduce the maternal mortality ratio by three quarters between 1990 and 2015. Still, each year more than half a million women die from pregnancy-related causes that are avoidable. At the present rate of progress, the world will fall well short of the MDG 5 target. This report details progress in maternal health and highlights areas where improvements are needed.
UPDATES
An error in the percentage of women aged 15–49 receiving antenatal care at least four times during pregnancy in Ethiopia was identified since Progress for Children: A report card on maternal mortality was printed, in July 2008. The correct figure is 12 per cent.
Click here for related corrections, including recalculated regional averages.
