The UK All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health held Hearings into Maternal Morbidity in December 2008, in response to members' requests for information, on this often neglected subject. In addition to the shocking number of maternal deaths every year. Millions of women and young girls suffer injury and disability. They live in shame and isolation, frequently abandoned by their husbands and excluded from economic and social lives, as a direct result of pregnancy and childbirth complications. Some of the most devastating injuries discussed in the report include obstetric fistula, prolapsed uterus, infertility and depression – all easily preventable, at a very low cost. Women and Children First were selected to present at the hearings and as a civil society representative on the hearings committee to develop the final report, “Better off Dead?”. The report was launched in the House of Commons on 6 May 2009 in collaboration with the White Ribbon Alliance, IPPF and MSI and in celebration of International Day of the Midwife. The Guest of Honour was Sarah Brown, Patron of the White Ribbon Alliance with Special Guest, Geri Halliwell, UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador.
Download the report “Better off Dead?”.
All Party Parliamentary Group on Population, Development and Reproductive Health Maternal Morbidity Inquiry (2008)
Saving Lives
Up to half a million women and three million newborn babies die each year in pregnancy and childbirth or soon afterwards, the majority of them in Africa and South Asia. For every woman who dies at least twenty more suffer complications which leave them with lifelong disability and pain.
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