Access to services and information

It is estimated that more than 500,000 women die globally each year due to causes related to pregnancy and childbearing. A large number of these deaths could be avoided if women had access to timely, appropriate and adequate care. Gender biases, combined with poverty, force many more women into sickness, poor nutrition, early marriages and repeated pregnancies.

The health of children born to women who experience these problems is invariably affected, thus setting up a vicious intergenerational cycle of mortality and morbidity. Key barriers to seeking care include lack of knowledge or perception of the seriousness of a problem, low socio-economic status, poor availability of health care providers and services, and lack of confidence in both the care provider and the quality of services provided.