Dr Cory Couillard

Maternal mortality rates are unacceptably high throughout the world.   Increasing rates of obesity, diabetes, high blood pressure and inadequate prenatal care has been linked to the increased risk of dying from childbirth.    Every day, approximately 800 women die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth according to the World Health Organization (WHO).   Of the 800, 99 percent of the deaths occur in developing countries.    In 2010, 287,000 women died during and following pregnancy and childbirth.   The highest rates occur in women living in rural and low income communities that have poor access to healthcare services.    WHO reports that in many sub-Saharan countries that maternal mortality has been cut in half since 1990.   This dramatic improvement is primarily related to improved access to healthcare services before, during and after childbirth.   Continued advancement, education and policy ...