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UN agencies are warning that recent cuts to international aid could threaten decades of progress in reducing global maternal mortality rates.
Although complications in pregnancy and childbirth declined worldwide by 40 per cent between 2000 and 2023, progress has slowed since 2016.
The three UN agencies, including the World Health Organization, say that without urgent action pregnant women will face “severe repercussions” – particularly in regions where maternal deaths are already very high.
Nearly two-thirds of deaths currently occur in countries affected by conflict or other fragility.
Bruce Aylward from the WHO said funding cuts led by the Trump administration could reverse progress in maternal mortality rates.
The US is one of a handful countries where the maternal death rate has increased in the past two decades.
Photo credits: STEFANIE GLINSKI/AFP via Getty Images
