How Gender Impacts
Safe Motherhood
IGWG Training Taskforce:
Gender and Safe Motherhood
Safe Motherhood Basics
Childbirth: life-threatening risk for
women in the developing world
• As of 2005, it is estimated that 536,000 women die yearly
from causes related to pregnancy and birth.
– 99% of those deaths occur in the developing world
• Another 10–20 million women every year face severe
health problems, such as obstetric fistula.
Common causes of maternal death
globally
Obstructed
Labor
8%
Infection
8%
Other Indirect
Causes
25%
Other Direct
Causes
11%
Eclampsia
13%
Unsafe Abortion
14%
Severe Bleeding
21%
The three deadly delays
1. Recognizing signs and deciding to seek care
2. Identifying and reaching a medical facility
3. Receiving adequate and appropriate treatment
How can maternal deaths be prevented?
Priority interventions include:
• Skilled attendance at all births
• Emergency obstetric care
• Reproductive health and family planning services,
including safe abortion
Also, greater focus on postnatal care
How can maternal deaths be prevented?
(cont.)
Global estimates indicate that maternal mortality
could be reduced…
• By 75%, with skilled attendance at all births backed
by emergency obstetric care
• By 33%, with voluntary family planning
• By 13%, with access to safe abortion
Who does maternal mortality and
morbidity affect?
– Women
– Children of women who die in childbirth
• 2–10 times greater likelihood of death within first two years
– Family, community, and country
• Decreased economic contributions to household, paid and nonpaid
• Psychological and social impact on family, including increased number
of children leaving school
• US$15 billion estimated cost of maternal mortality
Key Gender-Related Barriers
Gender-related barriers to safe
motherhood
– Poor nutrition
• Girls
• Pregnant women
– Early first pregnancy
– Early marriage
• Pregnancy-related deaths are the leading cause of mortality
for 15–19 year-old girls worldwide.
Gender-related barriers to safe
motherhood (cont.)
– Lack of information and education
– Restriction of women’s movement outside the home
– Gendered division of household labor
Gender-related barriers to safe
motherhood (cont.)
Gender-based violence
- Intimate partner violence against women may increase
during pregnancy
- Female genital cutting
Gender-related barriers to safe
motherhood (cont.)
– Lack of decisionmaking power
• Resources for healthcare
• How many children to have
• Spacing between pregnancies
• Use of contraception
Gender-related barriers to safe
motherhood (cont.)
– Exist at many different levels
• Individuals
• Couples
• Families and communities
• Health service and other institutions
• Policies
Safe motherhood related
to women’s status
• Even though women are honored in all cultures as
the givers of life, they are also often dishonored as
human beings.
• In short, women’s status is a strong predictor of
maternal mortality.
Thank You!