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Millennium Development Goal
5 – To improve maternal health
Target – Reduce the maternal mortality rate by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015.
More than half a million women die during pregnancy or in childbirth each year, most of them in developing countries. Related to this are the deaths of three million children. In Ethiopia, 1 in 14 women die of complications or illnesses during pregnancy and childbirth. In the UK only 1 in 5,800 women die for this reason.
Most of these deaths are wholly preventable. If mothers had access to good health care and basic medicines, most of them would survive to look after their families and contribute to their communities. Access to health care, family planning, contraception and adequate education are some of the means by which maternal health can be improved.
The birth of a child should be something which people look forward to with joy, and not an event which poses a significant risk to the mother’s life. We should put an end to this gross inequality in basic human health.
Activities for this goal include:
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Afghanistan case study
Information about a community health worker who assists mothers in remote areas. |
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Giving birth in different countries
Pupils examine statistics and make posters showing how unequal access to healthcare is during pregnancy and childbirth. |
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Celebrating mothers around the world
Pupils learn about the different ways mothers are acknowledged and celebrated in different cultures. |
Download Goal 5 poster (100KB pdf)
Download background information and activities for this poster
(73KB pdf)
From the Change the World in Eight Steps online resource.
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