This month, as Mother’s Day is celebrated in many countries, let us remember an alarming reality: each year, approximately 303,000 women die due to complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. Severe bleeding, sepsis, eclampsia, obstructed labor and complications from unsafe abortion are the main causes.
These lives can be saved by ensuring that women have access to prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care and postnatal services, even in high-risk humanitarian settings. “We must urgently do better by investing in family planning and addressing the global shortage of obstetric staff, so that all women receive the essential care they need. We have the tools, knowledge and resources to end preventable maternal deaths. We What is required now is political will,” says Natalia Kanem, UNFPA Executive Director.
UNFPA supports the training and deployment of obstetrician-midwives and other health professionals, providing health systems with the medicines and supplies needed to deliver safely, including in disaster-affected areas. No woman should lose her life by giving life.
Situation in Peru
In Peru, in 2023, five maternal deaths were recorded every week. The northeastern, southern Andean and rural areas show the highest rates of maternal mortality, reflecting serious inequities in access to services and marked poverty, which limits their ability to make decisions about their sexual and reproductive health. Profound territorial and population inequalities mean that almost a third of women do not receive at least four of the eight recommended prenatal checkups or adequate postnatal care, with hemorrhages causing one in four maternal deaths for more than a decade.
Significant differences persist in desired and actual fertility, particularly in rural areas, with a decreasing trend in the number of children, although large disparities still exist. In addition, adolescent girls face particular challenges: at least 6% of young women between 12 and 17 years old have been pregnant in regions such as Amazonas, Loreto and Ucayali.
To advance in reducing maternal mortality, it is crucial to implement plans and strategies based on territorial and intersectional evidence, promoting multisectoral and intergovernmental coordination with a gender focus and intercultural relevance, the active involvement of local governments, and work in brigades that reach the most marginalized populations.
This Mother’s Day, let us honor all mothers by ensuring safe motherhood, a fundamental right for all.