The World Health Organization estimates that about 260,000 women died during or after pregnancy and childbirth in 2023, equivalent to more than 700 preventable deaths every day. The global maternal mortality ratio stands at 197 deaths per 100,000 live births, a figure that has dropped roughly 40% since 2000 but remains far above international targets.
How WHO Defines Maternal Death
A maternal death, by the WHO’s definition, is any female death from a cause related to or aggravated by pregnancy or its management during pregnancy, childbirth, or within 42 days after the pregnancy ends. This excludes accidental or incidental causes like car crashes. The definition applies regardless of how long the pregnancy lasted or where it was located (including ectopic pregnancies).
WHO also tracks two broader categories. A “late maternal death” covers deaths from obstetric causes that occur more than 42 days but less than one year after the pregnancy ends. A “pregnancy-related death” is any death while pregnant or within 42 days afterward, including non-obstetric causes. These distinctions matter because they determine which deaths get counted in official statistics and how countries compare.
Leading Causes of Maternal Death
A WHO systematic analysis published in The Lancet Global Health broke down the direct causes. Severe bleeding (hemorrhage) is the single biggest killer, responsible for 27.1% of all maternal deaths, or roughly 661,000 deaths over the study period. Hypertensive disorders, including dangerously high blood pressure and preeclampsia, account for 14.0%. Sepsis, a life-threatening response to infection, causes 10.7%.
What makes these numbers so frustrating is that all three causes are treatable. Hemorrhage can be managed with medications that help the uterus contract and, when necessary, blood transfusions. Hypertensive crises respond to medication and timely delivery. Infections are treatable with antibiotics. The gap between what’s medically possible and what actually happens in under-resourced settings is where most of these deaths occur.
The Global Picture: Progress and Gaps
Between 2000 and 2023, the worldwide maternal mortality ratio fell by about 40%. For the first time in the tracking period, no individual country was estimated to have an extremely high maternal mortality ratio, and no entire region was classified as very high. That represents real, measurable progress driven by better access to prenatal care, skilled birth attendance, and emergency obstetric services.
But the pace of improvement is not fast enough. The Sustainable Development Goal target (SDG 3.1) calls for a global ratio below 70 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. The current ratio of 197 per 100,000 is nearly three times that target, and the 2030 deadline is close. At the current rate of decline, the world will miss the goal by a wide margin. The reductions have also been uneven: some regions have made dramatic gains while others have stalled or even reversed progress.
Who Is Most at Risk
Geography is the strongest predictor of maternal survival. Sub-Saharan Africa and Southern Asia account for a disproportionate share of global maternal deaths, driven by limited access to emergency care, fewer skilled health workers, and higher rates of conditions like malaria and anemia that complicate pregnancy.
Age plays a significant role as well. Adolescent mothers between ages 10 and 19 face higher risks of eclampsia (a severe form of pregnancy-related high blood pressure that causes seizures), postpartum uterine infections, and systemic infections compared to women in their early twenties. Their babies also face elevated risks of low birth weight and preterm delivery. Sub-Saharan Africa has the highest adolescent birth rate for girls aged 10 to 14, at 4.4 per 1,000, followed by Latin America and the Caribbean at 2.3.
Poverty, distance from a health facility, lack of education, and limited decision-making power over one’s own healthcare all compound the risk. Women in rural areas or conflict zones often cannot reach a hospital quickly enough when complications arise, and in many settings, the nearest facility lacks the staff or supplies to manage an obstetric emergency.
What Reduces Maternal Deaths
The countries that have successfully brought their maternal mortality ratios down share a common pattern: they ensured that women give birth with a trained health professional present who can recognize danger signs early and either manage complications or arrange a rapid transfer. Access to emergency obstetric care, including the ability to perform cesarean sections and blood transfusions, is critical for the complications that kill most quickly, particularly hemorrhage.
Prenatal care catches problems before they become emergencies. Regular blood pressure checks identify hypertensive disorders early. Screening and treatment for infections reduce the risk of sepsis. Ensuring women have access to contraception also matters, because preventing unintended pregnancies, especially in very young women, reduces the total number of women exposed to pregnancy-related risk.
The pattern is consistent: maternal deaths decline when health systems invest in trained personnel at every birth, functioning referral networks for emergencies, and consistent access to prenatal visits. Where any of those pieces are missing, preventable deaths continue.