State of the Worlds Mothers 2006: Saving the Lives of Mothers and Newborns

Facts and Figures

• A community health worker trained by Save the Children gives helpful advice on how to care for her baby.

  Of the 10 million children under age 5 who die each year, 2 million die within the first 24 hours of life.¹
• Approximately 4 million babies die each year—primarily due to easily preventable or treatable causes—within the first month of life.²
• Low-cost interventions could reduce newborn deaths by up to 70 percent if provided universally.³
• 60 million women in developing countries give birth at home with no professional help; more than half a million of them die in childbirth or from complications of pregnancy.⁴
• In sub-Saharan Africa, 1 in 5 mothers will lose a newborn during her lifetime.⁵
• Every minute, a woman meets her death during pregnancy or childbirth, and seven newborns die before they see the end of their first month.⁶
• More than two-thirds of all newborn deaths and three-fifths of maternal deaths occur in 10 countries: India, China, Pakistan, Nigeria, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, Afghanistan and Tanzania.^7,8
• Very few (1 percent) of newborn deaths occur in industrialized countries.⁹
• Still, many poor countries—e.g., Eritrea, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Philippines and Tajikistan—are making great strides in newborn survival despite limited financial resources. ¹⁰
• Among 53 low-income countries, Vietnam has the best record on newborn survival. The country also has a newborn mortality rate superior to 24 middle-income countries. ¹¹

¹Lawn, Joy, Simon Cousens and Jelka Zupan. “4 Million Neonatal Deaths: When? Where? Why?” The Lancet. Volume 365, Issue 9462. (Lynhurst Press, Ltd.: London: March 3, 2005) pp.891-900
²Lawn, Joy, et al. “4 Million Neonatal Deaths: When? Where? Why?” The Lancet
³Darmstadt, Gary, Zulfiqar Bhutta, Simon Cousens, Tanghreed Adam, Neff Walker and Luc de Bernis. “Evidence-Based, Cost-Effective Interventions: How Many Newborn Babies Can We Save?” The Lancet. Volume 365, Issue 9463. (Lynhurst Press, Ltd.: London: March 12, 2005) pp.977-988
⁴UNFPA and University of Aberdeen. Maternal Mortality Update 2004: Delivering into Good Hands. (UNFPA: New York: 2004), p. 9
⁵Estimate calculated using data for 41 of 50 countries, based on estimated number of live births, newborn mortality rate and total fertility rate. Data sources: World Health Organization, State of the World’s Vaccines andImmunization (WHO: 2003 rev), WHO, Draft Neonatal and Perinatal Death Estimates as of January 2005 (unpublished data), supplemental data from ORC/Macro DHS 2000–2005 and United Nations Population Fund, State of World Population 2005 (UNFPA: New York: 2005)
⁶The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health. http://www.pmnch.org/pdf/Brochure_9_05.pdf
⁷ Joy Lawn, et al. “4 Million Neonatal Deaths: When? Where? Why?” The Lancet
⁸World Health Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund, and United Nations Population Fund. Maternal Mortality in 2000: Estimates Developed by WHO, UNICEF and UNFPA (WHO: Geneva: 2004)
⁹Joy Lawn, et al. “4 Million Neonatal Deaths: When? Where? Why?” The Lancet
¹⁰UNICEF. State of the World’s Children 2006, pp. 127–129
¹¹WHO, Draft Neonatal and Perinatal Death Estimates as of January 2005 (unpublished data), supplemental data from ORC/Macro DHS 2000–2005

Learn more about the State of the World's Mothers 2006 report

Tell Congress to pass the CHILD and Newborn Act