President Urges Stakeholders to Help Reduce Maternal Death

Ena January 10/2019 President Sahlework Zewdie urged today all concerned bodies to step up efforts to reduce maternal death in the country, which is 12, 000 annually.

Speaking at a national consultative meeting that opened today, the president called on  stakeholders to step up efforts to curb the most serious but preventable causes of maternal death in Ethiopia.

The most serious but preventable causes of maternal death in the country are hemorrhage, obstructed labor, and hypertension, she added.

About 50 percent mothers give birth outside health facilities, according to her.

The consultative meeting is part of Safe Motherhood Month launched by the Ministry of Health and ends on  February 7, 2020.

Regional representatives attending the meeting have pledged to raise the number of mothers who deliver at health facilities by 15 percent.

Sahlework further underscored the need to strive for delivering accessible and efficient health services to mothers through skilled human power to reduce the causes and burden of maternal death.

Despite efforts to curb maternal death, the country is burdened with an annual death of 12, 000 mothers, it was learned.

Health State Minister Leya Tadesse said the country has reduced maternal death by 72 percent in the past 25 years.

She added that about 48 percent mothers out of 3.2 million pregnant every year delivered in health facilities last year as delivery services at health facilities improved.