Global Motherhood

We mark the milestones of our lives in years — birthdays, anniversaries, graduations, holidays — years until one event and years since another. But for too many women and children around the world, those milestones will never happen.

Around the world, each day of every year is indelibly marked by the deaths of mothers and children whose lives are lost from causes that are entirely preventable. These deaths don’t number in the hundreds or even thousands, but in the millions. Every day, the lives of women are cut short, and for too many children, their lives never even have a chance to begin.

As heart-breaking and staggering as the numbers are, there is hope. Through the efforts of hundreds of partners around the world, year after year, more women and children are surviving. Progress is being made, and there is more to be done.

FACTS:

1. More than 280,000 mothers die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth each year.
2. Approximately 40 million women give birth without a trained health professional each year.
3. An estimated 2 million women give birth alone each year.
4. More than 1 million newborn babies die in their first day of life each year.
5. Nearly 3 million newborns will not survive their 1st month of life each year.
6. 330,000 newborns were infected with HIV in 2011.
7. Pneumonia and diarrhea claim almost 2 million young lives each year.
8. 6.6 million children will not live to celebrate their 5th birthday each year.
9. Every year birth attendants w/ basic resuscitation skills could save 229,000 newborns.
10. Every year 1 million lives could be saved with improved nutrition during the first 1,000 days of life.