Countries: Peru
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"In 2017, 8.5% of maternal deaths were due to abortion" (10). "According to the Ministry of Health, 33% of maternal deaths are due to indirect causes, '14.9% of the dead women are adolescents between 12 and 19 years of age (…), between 2014 and 2017, the average number of maternal deaths under the age of 19 years constituted 13.8% of the total cases'. All of these deaths could have been prevented with a therapeutic abortion" (10).

Countries: Benin
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"Benin’s health minister, Benjamin Hounkpatin, estimates that unsafe abortions are responsible for one in five maternal deaths nationwide" (para 5).

Countries: Kyrgyzstan
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"In general, the structure of the causes of maternal mortality has changed. In 2012, bleeding was the most prevalent cause (29.5 per cent), followed by extragenital diseases (23.1 per cent), hypertension conditions (22.6 per cent) and sepsis (21 per cent), whereas in 2017 extragenital diseases (39.6 per cent) were the leading cause, followed by sepsis (22.9 per cent) and bleeding (14.6 per cent)" (28). Figure 6, titled “Causes of maternal mortality from 2012 to 2017,” shows that the percentage of maternal deaths due to bleeding fluctuated and eventually decreased from 29.5% to 14.6% between 2012 and 2017. The percentage of deaths caused by pre-eclampsia also fluctuated each year, peaking at...more

Countries: United Kingdom
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"Death rates for mothers and newborn babies have increased for the first time in a decade amid growing concerns over patient safety, a report reveals. There has been an ‘alarming decline’ in the overall quality of NHS care, with the deterioration in maternity services particularly bad, it adds. Researchers from the Institute of Global Health Innovation, at Imperial College London, say the gap between the UK and the best performing countries for deaths from treatable causes, such as sepsis and blood clots, has widened" (par. 1-3). "Lord Darzi, co-director at the Institute of Global Health Innovation, who recently led a recent government-commissioned review into the NHS, said: ‘Our latest report...more

Countries: Nicaragua
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"[D]espite being one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, it has managed to reduce maternal mortality by 70% and infant mortality rates by 56%. Through the country’s universal free health care system, all prenatal, childbirth and post-natal care in Nicaragua is offered countrywide free of charge – c-sections, premature births, neonatal ICU stays and, incredibly, even fetal surgeries are all free. Home births, previously common especially in rural areas, are now nearly unheard-of – 97% of all births are in hospitals. Lay midwives who once attended home births have now been incorporated into the health care system to provide prenatal and in-hospital birth support. In Nicaragua, 25 hospitals...more

Countries: Sierra Leone
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"Medical care for pregnant women and babies is mostly free now in Sierra Leone, as is contraception" (para 5). "More than 90 percent of pregnant women in Sierra Leone now get prenatal care, and the great majority are assisted during delivery by a trained midwife, nurse or doctor. After delivery, nurses put babies to the breast right away and counsel moms on exclusive breastfeeding practices, reducing infant mortality" (para 9).

Countries: Sierra Leone
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1, RISW-PRACTICE-1

“Sierra Leone made history when the president signed into law the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act 2024. For a country with one of the highest rates of child marriage, teenage pregnancy and maternal mortality in the world, it is a crucial step forward, and a hard-won achievement for campaigners in west Africa” (1).

Countries: Gabon
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"The measures taken to reduce the maternal mortality rate include: The adoption of the 2003-2015 National Policy on Reproductive Health, [t]he promotion, or advocacy, of family planning, under the third strategic pillar (improvement of maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health) of the operational health plan" (17).

Countries: Central African Rep
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"An operational plan to accelerate the reduction of maternal and neonatal mortality has been adopted for the period 2004–2015" (13). "[The] national health development plan (2006–2015) and the health sector transition plan (2015–2017) [have] several actions to support women... [These actions include r]educing maternal mortality, and providing free emergency obstetric care... Women with obstetric fistula have been cured thanks to a partnership between the Government and other health actors" (37).

Countries: Angola
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"The persistently high rate of maternal mortality, may be attributed to, inter alia, unsafe abortion, the fact that 22.8 per cent of deliveries occur at home and the high incidence of malaria, which is reportedly the cause of 25 per cent of maternal deaths" (12).

Countries: Bulgaria
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"[There is a] National programme to improve maternal and child health for the period 2014–2020" (2).

Countries: Azerbaijan
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"In order to prevent maternal and neonatal mortality cases, it is imperative to enable women to see a doctor, but also ensure the early registration (until 12 weeks) of pregnant women, maintain intergenetic interval in using family planning methods, raise motivation of pregnant women and families and conduct protocol based early registration of pregnant women. The constant work is underway in this area. The seminars on the application of the Methodology of Studying the Mortality Free Pregnancy Complications and Gynecology Consequences aimed at increasing maternal and children’s health and decreasing their mortality are organized at the Public Health and Reforms Center of the Ministry of Health with the support of...more

Countries: Nicaragua
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"Standards and protocols for handling obstetric complications have been established to reduce maternal deaths through timely clinical management. The national sexual and reproductive health strategy emphasizes family planning to prevent unwanted and risky pregnancies." (11). "The national health system in Nicaragua, which has public and private components, is organized in 19 local comprehensive health-care systems. They promote and provide preventive care, treatment and rehabilitation to individuals, families and communities and monitor their living conditions. They also carry out programmes on early childhood (Programa Amor), for persons with disabilities (Todos Con Voz), on the reduction of maternal and infant mortality, and for fee -free surgery (Operación Milagro)." (22). "In 2006, 9,205...more

Countries: Morocco
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"The protest on International Safe Abortion Day came weeks after a teenage girl, Meriem, died in a village in the centre of the country following a clandestine termination" (Para.2). "Abortion is illegal in Morocco and is punishable by up to five years in prison, except in cases when the woman's health is in danger" (Para.3).

Countries: Tanzania
Variables: MMR-PRACTICE-1

"Girls who marry early are also more likely to experience domestic violence, sexual violence, and complications or death during childbirth" (3). "I witnessed and helped another woman of my age delivering her 12th child, in danger of losing her life, because her 80-year-old husband was against the use of contraception when the doctors advised her to" (15).