[Women's health and development]

Compared to industrialized countries, the maternal mortality rate is 100 times higher in resource-poor countries, where every minute a woman dies because she is pregnant. Most of these deaths are due to hemorrhage during home delivery. This high fatality rate results mainly from a lack of obstetric professionals, remoteness, and poverty all of which hinder timely access to emergency obstetric care. Four factors can help to reduce maternal mortality: a higher standard of living, better education of girls, a lower fertility rate, and better access to obstetric professionals.