A new report by the United Nations Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group reveals that Pakistan is among four countries—alongside Nigeria, Ethiopia, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo—that collectively accounted for nearly half of the estimated 260,000 maternal deaths worldwide in 2023.
Released on World Health Day, the report highlights that these four countries contributed to 47% of global maternal deaths, signaling an urgent need for focused and sustained health interventions.
In Pakistan alone, an estimated 11,000 women died due to pregnancy and childbirth complications last year, representing around 4.1% of the global total. The country’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in 2023 stood at 155 deaths per 100,000 live births—lower than the global average of 197, yet still alarmingly high.
While the world has seen a 40% decline in maternal deaths since 2000, the report warns that progress in countries like Pakistan has been inconsistent and is now under serious threat due to deep cuts in funding for reproductive and maternal health.
The report outlines how reductions in humanitarian aid have led to the shutdown of health facilities, loss of skilled medical staff, and disruptions in the supply of essential medicines and equipment. These setbacks are severely impacting maternal and newborn survival, especially in remote and conflict-affected regions where emergency obstetric care remains out of reach.
Most maternal deaths in Pakistan and similar contexts are due to preventable or treatable causes such as postpartum hemorrhage, hypertensive disorders like pre-eclampsia and eclampsia, sepsis, unsafe abortions, and exacerbated pre-existing health conditions. Other contributing factors include anemia, malaria, and chronic non-communicable diseases.
Many of these complications could be avoided with timely access to skilled healthcare providers, antenatal services, emergency obstetric care, and postnatal support. However, systemic issues like poverty, gender inequality, and weak healthcare infrastructure continue to stand in the way of progress.
The COVID-19 pandemic further exposed these vulnerabilities. In 2021, around 40,000 additional maternal deaths were reported globally due to both direct complications of the virus and widespread interruptions in healthcare. Pakistan was no exception, with lockdowns significantly limiting access to antenatal services and institutional deliveries—particularly in rural areas.
A fact sheet accompanying the report draws stark comparisons between low- and high-income countries: a 15-year-old girl in a low-income country such as Pakistan faces a lifetime risk of 1 in 80 of dying from maternal causes, compared to just 1 in 5,600 in high-income nations.
In sub-Saharan Africa, the MMR is 545 deaths per 100,000 live births—nearly nine times higher than in Central and Southern Asia, where Pakistan is located. Still, South Asia accounted for over 22% of global maternal deaths in 2023.
UN agencies caution that the world is not on track to meet the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) of reducing maternal mortality to fewer than 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Achieving this would require an annual global reduction of 15%—ten times the current rate of progress.
For Pakistan, meeting this target demands a significant scale-up in investments focused on maternal health. This includes expanding access to skilled birth attendants, reinforcing emergency referral systems, and addressing broader social determinants such as education, poverty, and gender inequality.
The report calls on countries like Pakistan to prioritize maternal and newborn health by increasing domestic spending, restoring international aid, and investing in midwives, nurses, and community health workers. It also stresses the importance of improving access to contraception and family planning, promoting girls’ education, and ensuring comprehensive reproductive healthcare—including safe abortion services where legally permitted.
UNFPA Executive Director Dr. Natalia Kanem emphasized that access to quality maternal care is a basic human right, not a luxury. “By strengthening supply chains, the midwifery workforce, and the data systems needed to identify those most at risk, we can and must put an end to the needless tragedy of maternal deaths and their profound impact on families and communities,” she said.
Again a moronic report of a organisation which has no credentials anywhere and they are moronically suggesting that Pakistan is equivalent to the African countries regarding maternal mortality deaths, come on kindly anything tagged with UN is no conclusive proof of truth. UN always plays agenda of powerful. In India maternal mortality is 100 times more than Pakistan but the UN maternal mortality organisation shall never mentioned it. Get over it Mr article writer have a life, there are much better things to talk about Pakistan not to enforce foreign agenda to put Pakistan down.