Maternal Death and Illness Now Recognized as Pressing Human Rights Concerns

On 17 June 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution recognizing maternal death and illness as pressing human rights concerns. Ximena Andión Ibañez, International Advocacy Director at the New York-based Center for Reproductive Rights and one of the key actors in organizing for this resolution, spoke with Masum Momaya about the resolution and its implications.

On 17 June 2009, the United Nations Human Rights Council adopted a resolution recognizing maternal death and illness (MDI) as pressing human rights concerns.
The World Health Organization defines maternal mortality as the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes. [1]
More than 1500 women and girls die every day from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth; that translates to around 550,000 annually.[2]

Ninety-nine percent of maternal deaths worldwide occur in developing countries where women often cannot control whether, when, and whom they marry; may be subject to early marriage; and may be forced to bear children “too early and too often.” These conditions, paired with lack of access to basic family planning methods needed to delay, space, or limit childbearing, lack of access to safe abortion services, and lack of access to emergency obstetric care contribute to the ongoing toll in women’s lives and health. [3]

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