Maternal

Young girls attend Adolescent Girls’ Club in Gudele neighbourhood on the outskirts of Juba in the South Sudan.
UNESCO/BRAC

Ban urges focus on adolescent girls to reduce maternal mortality

28 June 2014
To triumph over maternal mortality, initiatives must focus on adolescent girls, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today said, ones that allow them to go to school, marry whom they choose, shield them from harmful traditional practices and provide them with appropriate family planning services.
Mother and child at the maternity ward of Poste de Santé de Bicole, District of Fatick, Senegal.
World Bank/Arne Hoel

Amid vast global gaps, maternity, paternity protections make headway, UN reports

13 May 2014
Despite progress in maternity benefits and a positive trend in supporting new fathers, at least 830 million women workers still do not have adequate protection, the United Nations labour agency today reported.
A woman and her severely malnourished son leave a UNICEF-supported health centre, in Maradi Region.
UNICEF/Olivier Asselin

Maternal death rates fall but chronic diseases increase pregnancy risk –UN agency

6 May 2014
Rates of maternal deaths are down, according to United Nations figures released today, but pre-existing medical conditions heighten the risk of death for pregnant women and require continued investment in quality care during pregnancy and childbirth.