User:Mr. Ibrahem/Maternal death

Maternal death, also known as maternal mortality, is defined by the World Health Organization (WHO) as the death of a woman during or within six weeks of the end of pregnancy due to complications of pregnancy, underlying conditions worsened by pregnancy, or management of these conditions. The CDC definition includes within one year from the end of pregnancy, which after 42 days WHO refers to as a "late maternal death".

Common causes include obstetrical bleeding, including postpartum bleeding; high blood pressure during pregnancy; infections, including postpartum infections; complications of delivery; and unsafe abortion. Other causes include blood clots, amniotic fluid embolism, and peripartum cardiomyopathy. They are divided into direct deaths, such as complications of pregnancy; and indirect deaths, such as when pregnancy worsens an existing condition. There are two main measures maternal mortality ratio (number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) and maternal mortality rate (number of deaths per 100,000 women of reproductive age) both abbreviated as MMR.

Prevention includes access to birth control, safe abortions, and skilled birth attendants with backup emergency obstetric care. Risk factors for inadequate care include being poor, ethnicity, living outside urban centers, few women's rights, and low available of healthcare providers. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) includes reducing maternal deaths by 2030 and it is one of the World Health Organization's key priorities.

In 2020, about 287,000 women died of pregnancy and childbirth. Nearly 95% of deaths are in low and middle income countries, particularly sub-Saharan Africa and to a lesser extent Southern Asia. In low income countries it represents about 2% of deaths among women who reach 15 years of age. The maternal mortality rate decreased 34% between 2000 and 2020; with many countries decreasing their rate by more than half. For every death, about 25 women are injured, infected, or disabled.