Pregnancy-Related And Childbirth Deaths Preventable Around The World

This week, Dr. Richard Besser, chief health and medical correspondent for ABC News, hosted a tweet Chat with the goal in mind of shedding light on the important global issue of death during pregnancy and to honor the role that women play in communities across the globe, according to ABC News.

Approximately 800 women die each day from preventable pregnancy-related and causes and childbirth around the world, an alarming statistic that has prompted mom advocacy groups like Every Mom Counts and Save the Children to make efforts to make a difference. The groups, along with experts from the Mayo Clinic, were among participants who took part in Dr. Besser's Tweet Chat.

Save the Children recently released a study that found that sub-Saharan Africa is the toughest place to be a mom, with 1 in 39 pregnancy-related deaths occuring in this region, and 99 percent of pregnancy and childbirth deaths overall occurring in developing countries.  

In comparison, there are annually 1 in 3,800 pregnancy and childbirth-related deaths in the United States, which has the highest death rate for newborns among industrialized nations.

White Ribbon Alliance tweeted during the chat: 

What are the causes of these deaths? Across the world, about 80 percent of pregnancy-related deaths "result from bleeding, infections, unsafe abortion and hypertension," all of which can be prevented and managed by improving access to prenatal care for women and providing them with skilled professionals to assist them during childbirth.

In addition, "simple solutions like hygiene education can also have a major impact," as well as providing mothers with support in the weeks before they are due to give birth. Every Mother Counts added to the list of causes, hash tagging "#hemorrhage" and #"embolus" as other worldwide causes of death.