Progress for Children

Maternal mortality is one of the world’s most neglected problems, and progress on reducing the maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has been far too slow. More than 500,000 women in the world die each year because of complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. This seventh edition in the series examines progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), and evaluates the global performance on maternal health, focused particularly on maternal mortality. There are clear linkages between improvements in maternal health and other MDGs. The report also highlights areas that need improvements and concludes that lack of progress on maternal health has implications for human development worldwide.