Half a million women die each year from largely preventable complications related to pregnancy and childbirth. That's one woman every minute of every day, and these deaths disproportionately afflict the most vulnerable women and children in the poorest countries.
“We have to stop being polite about this issue – we need to start marching in the streets. Post-partum hemorrhage is a nice way of saying we let women bleed to death.”
– Dr. Helene D. Gayle, President, CARE USA
CARE believes it is past time to change these tragic statistics. It is time to recognize that progress against poverty will be thwarted as long as women are dying in the most productive years of their lives. It is time to honor and fulfill all human rights equally.
In rural Ayacucho, Peru, CARE found that only one-third of women who needed obstetric services accessed them, and for those women with complications who reached the health center or hospital, one in 60 did not survive. Our approach to this challenge was to work with community leaders, local women and health workers to understand and address causes that contributed to the high maternal death rate. Watch this video from renowned photographer and CARE supporter Phil Borges to learn how CARE fostered change that is saving women's lives. |
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GET INVOLVED
 One of the factors adding to high maternal mortality rates is child marriage. The risk of death in pregnancy and delivery for girls under the age of 15 is five times higher than for women in their 20s. The cost of child marriage is too high to be ignored. |
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LEARN MORE
Read stories about our maternal health work in our "Voices from the Village" series:
Other Ways to Empower Women >
