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Did you know:
- Every minute a woman dies in pregnancy or childbirth. That’s over 500,000 deaths every year.
- Every year over one million newborns die within their first 24 hours of life for lack of quality care.
- In Timor-Leste, a mother has a one in 44 chance of dying in childbirth or from pregnancy complications compared to Australian women who face a one in 7,400 risk.
These alarming statistics are a telling indication of the gulf between rich and poor in our world today. Most maternal deaths are caused by obstetric complications, anaemia (exacerbated by malaria), HIV and other conditions that increase the risk of haemorrhage. Newborns are threatened by infections (pneumonia, tetanus and diarrhoea), asphyxia and preterm births.
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Yet up to 80 percent of maternal deaths could be averted if women had access to essential maternity and basic healthcare services.
UNICEF works with governments and local communities to strengthen the national capacity for maternal care in a number of different areas. These include:
- Scaling up quality health services to ensure universal access to reproductive health.
- Addressing the urgent need for skilled health workers, particularly midwives.
- Addressing financial barriers to access, especially for the poorest.
- Tackling the root causes of maternal mortality and morbidity, including gender inequality, low access to education — especially for girls — child marriage and adolescent pregnancy.
- Strengthening monitoring and evaluation systems.
Please join us in saving women's and children's lives.
You can make a donation online, call us on 1300 884 233, or download our donation form.
Join UNICEF’s monthly giving program - by becoming a UNICEF Global Parent and making a regular donation, you can help build long-term sustainable communities for many children and their families. Find out more about monthly giving or call 1300 134 071.
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