Maternal mortality: how many women die in childbirth in your country?
Just as many women die in pregnancy and childbirth in the UK as they were 20 years ago, leaving Britain trailing behind countries like Albania, Poland and Slovakia as well as the wealthier nations of Europe.
The stagnation of the UK, only 23rd in the global league table, contrasts strikingly with the developing world where, according to a major new and comprehensive study in the Lancet, real inroads are being made on death rates among women in childbirth.
Globally, the number of deaths dropped from more than 500,000 a year in 1980 to 343,000 a year in 2008. In the last 20 years, deaths have been declining at a rate of about 1.4% a year.
The figures - shown below, show the Maternal mortality ratio (MMR) - the number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births.
Top rated medical negligence lawyer Susan Brown from Reading based law firm Boyes Turner said: "Over the last 20 years we have dealt with several cases where mothers have died as a result of complications during pregnancy and childbirth, where better care would have avoided their death. It is disappointing to see that there doesn't appear to have been any improvement in this regard.
Click here to read full article and to view the full datasheet of maternal mortality rates by country.
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