Latin American states urged to ramp up investments in maternal care
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
The Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) is calling on national governments in the Latin America and Caribbean region to ramp up their investments in prenatal, childbirth and postpartum care. An estimated 9,200 women continue to die each year in the region from pregnancy-related causes, claims PAHO, despite a 41% reduction in maternal mortality in the region between 1990 and 2008. One million births a year take place “without skilled care” and an estimated 744,000 pregnancies do not receive prenatal care, it said, citing United Nations estimates. “Significant progress” has been made in improving these services in the last 20 years, but it falls far short of the global target of a 75% reduction by 2015, says PAHO.