To save the lives of mothers, invest in health care now

The Millennium Development Goals, agreed by global leaders in 2000 to reduce poverty levels dramatically, reach their conclusion at the end of 2015.

Among the eight goals set was one that addressed maternal health. The aim was to reduce the childbirth-related deaths of women by 75 percent over 1990 levels, and achieve universal access to reproductive health. By 2013, the rate worldwide had fallen 45 percent from 380 to 210 deaths per 100,000 live births. But in sub-Saharan Africa, progress was less marked, so that today it holds the highest level of such deaths worldwide, some 63 percent.  

In Kenya, women are still 40 times more likely to die during childbirth than they are in the United Kingdom. Generally, the causes are complications that could easily be dealt with if they had access to professional health care. Obstructed labor, hemorrhaging and eclampsia are common but treatable — many women experience these every day in maternity wards throughout the U.K. and survive.