Increased global investment could sharply reduce maternal and newborn deaths, new report indicates

Maternal deaths in developing countries could be reduced by 70% and newborn deaths cut nearly in half if global investments in family planning and pregnancy-related care were doubled, according to a new report by the Guttmacher Institute and UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund. Currently, more than half a million maternal deaths and 3.5 million newborn deaths, many of them easily preventable, occur every year in developing countries.

The new report, titled Adding It Up: The Costs and Benefits of Investing in Family Planning and Maternal and Newborn Health, found that investments in family planning boost the overall effectiveness of every dollar spent on the provision of pregnancy-related and newborn health care. Simultaneously investing in family planning and maternal and newborn services can achieve the same dramatic outcomes for $1.5 billion less than investing in maternal and newborn health services alone, the report says.

The Religious Institute has announced a new program for 2010, the Rachel Sabbath Initiative, to engage faith communities in educating their congregants about the crisis of maternal mortality worldwide.  To learn more, click here.