These statistics expose the cruel reality behind the largest disparity in global public health: that giving life amounts to risking life for women in many developing countries. Each time a woman in the developing world becomes pregnant, she not only faces the risk of death but also the likelihood of serious complications that could reduce her quality of life and her ability to earn a living.

Most of these deaths and disabilities are easily preventable. While complications can occur at any time during pregnancy and childbirth, access to medications, supplies and skilled health care providers can dramatically reduce maternal deaths.

Safeguarding women's health

With more than 50 years of experience in maternal, newborn and child health programming, CARE is at the forefront of the movement to safeguard women’s health during pregnancy and childbirth. CARE’s knowledge and comprehensive experience in the poorest communities of the developing world is used to identify and implement best practices to reduce maternal newborn and child mortality, and improve women and children’s overall health.

We work to ensure that all women have timely access to high-quality maternal health services. Our Mothers Matter program includes building women’s capacity to exercise their rights to a safe pregnancy and delivery, and advocating that governments have an obligation to guarantee lifesaving maternal health services.

CARE has committed to making pregnancy and delivery safer for 30 million women in Africa, Asia and Latin America by 2015. Learn more about how CARE is working to bring high-quality maternal health services to the world’s most vulnerable.

“For us, in all Peru, and all over the world, the mother is the pillar of the home; she is the trunk of the family tree. If a woman dies, the children don’t know where to go. If the mother lives, she’ll keep her children together. The family will stay together. That’s why we focus on saving the mother’s life.”
– Bacilia Vivanco, Midwife, Ayacucho Regional Hospital, Peru

Feature projects:

• “Good Health Concerns Us All,” aims to help these vulnerable and marginalized populations in Mali to obtain quality health care.
• CARE’s projects in Mali integrate family planning, pregnancy and nutrition information with village savings and loan groups. Women who participated in a microfinance group were more than twice as likely to use contraception as those who were not members.
• In Ayacucho, Peru where access to maternal health services was very limited, CARE partnered with community leaders, local women and health care providers to bring about a 50% reduction in maternal deaths.
• In Tanzania, Rwanda and Ethiopia, CARE helped cut fatality rates in emergency obstetric care facilities by 30 to 50%.
• In India, CARE launched a 10-year program across nine different states, which aims to strengthen the quality and reach of maternal and child health. It is one of the largest NGO-run public health programs in the world.