The Millennium Development Goals

Reduce maternal mortality Goal 5: Ensure that women have safe pregnancies and childbirths.

• Every minute, a woman somewhere dies in pregnancy or childbirth. This adds up to 1,400 women dying each day — an estimated 529,000 each year — from pregnancy-related causes.
• Almost half of births in developing countries take place without the help of a skilled birth attendant.
• Risk factors include poor health, poverty, low levels of education, mothers who are malnourished, mothers who are too young or too old, and pregnancies too close together.

How World Vision works to promote safe motherhood

Advocacy: World Vision advocates for safer obstetric practices, access to reproductive health care, and women's rights.

Midwifery care: World Vision assists in the training of midwives for both hospital and community-based programs, increasing women's access to skilled birth attendants.

Strengthening health care systems: World Vision works to strengthen the primary health care infrastructure in rural and urban centers, which provide maternal and child health services by skilled health care workers. Health clinics and staff offering maternal and child health services are trained to provide emergency obstetric care and treat complications. Referral and transportation systems are also established between health clinics and tertiary hospitals where emergency surgery can be carried out.

Community involvement: World Vision works with communities to reduce the risks of pregnancy and childbirth, empowering them to use health services and learn how to save the lives of women. Methods used to work with communities include community health education sessions, radio, and print material.

Eradicate Extreme Poverty & Hunger		Achieve Universal Primary Education		Promote Gender Equality & the Empowerment of Women		Reduce Child Mortality
Reduce Maternal Mortality		Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and Other Diseases		Ensure Environmental Sustainability		Develop a Global Partnership for Development

Learn more

• Study the Bible to learn what it says about the poor.