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Maternal health

Women in Burkina Faso are dying needlessly during pregnancy and childbirth because discrimination prevents them from accessing sexual and reproductive health services.

Salam Dipama who lost his wife in childbirth now lives with his one year old son Alassan and his mother, who cares for the baby, Burkina Faso, June 2009. (Photographer Anna Kari)Salam Dipama who lost his wife in childbirth now lives with his one year old son
Alassan and his mother, who cares for the baby.
Burkina Faso, June 2009. © Anna Kari

A Manifesto for Motherhood

Mother and Baby, MaiKhanda, Malawi. �The Health Foundation Photographer Mike ThorntonAmnesty International is one of a number of organisations who have signed up to a Manifesto for Motherhood, which describes how the next UK government can ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth safe, and every child healthy. Download the Manifesto for Motherhood (PDF)

Maternal health is a human right

Pregnancy is not a disease, yet it kills one woman every minute. Almost all of these deaths are preventable and 95% of them occur in developing countries.

A woman and child in a health clinic, PeruPoverty, violence and lack of education lead to the avoidable deaths of women in childbirth, with a host of knock-on effects on children and communities.

The lifetime risk of maternal death in Sweden is only one in nearly 30,000; in Sierra Leone it is one in eight. Yet in many countries - for example Nepal, Sri Lanka and Honduras - action by governments has reduced maternal mortality.

Amnesty International campaigns for preventable maternal death to be recognised as a human rights issue.

Maternal mortality worldwide

Sierra Leone: 1 in 8 women risks dying during pregnancy of childbirth The report Out of Reach: The Cost of Maternal Health in Sierra Leone shows how women and girls are often unable to access life-saving treatment because they are too poor to pay for it. Find out more

A health worker advises a woman patient at a public hospital in the city of Ocotal, Nicaragua © IpasNicaragua's total ban on abortions is denying girls and women life-saving treatment, preventing health professionals from practising effective medicine and contributing to an increase in maternal deaths across the country. Take action - send a letter to the President of Nicaragua

Maternal mortality in PeruPeru: Women die because they face a number of barriers such as  the lack of access to emergency obstetric care, unavailability of information on maternal health and lack of health staff who can speak indigenous languages. Read Amnesty's report (PDF)

More videos, photos and links

Protect The Human logoGet and share videos, photos and interesting links related to maternal health on the Protect The Human community website.