Where Data Tells the Story
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One of the most tragic beginnings in life for a child is to lose their mother during childbirth.
This was incredibly common in the past, and it still is in many countries today. But the world has made much progress in reducing maternal mortality rates.
As the chart shows, maternal deaths per 100,000 live births have fallen by 57% since 1985. Progress was temporarily reversed during the COVID-19 pandemic, but rates have started to fall again since then.
As a result, there are around 365,000 fewer maternal deaths each year than in 1985.
There are still huge gaps in maternal mortality rates across the world; we estimate that closing these gaps could save an additional 275,000 women each year.