By Dave Andrusko

Back in April I ran a series of stories about the angst experienced by the World Health Organization (WHO) and others wedded to the notion that only legalizing abortion will reduce maternal mortality in the developing world and who insisted that there had been only the most modest reduction in recent decades.

"Maternal mortality for 181 countries, 1980--2008: a systematic analysis of progress towards Millennium Development Goal 5" had just come out and researchers from the University of Washington and the University of Queensland in Australia reported a drop of 35%--and no reference to abortion!

The number of women dying during childbirth dropped from more than half a million yearly to 343,000, according to Dr. Christopher Murray of Washington and his colleagues. This "suggested that the rate has been dropping by an average of about 1.4% per year since 1980," according to Tom Maugh of the Los Angeles Times. (See http://www.nrlc.org/news_and_views/April10/nv041510.html.)

The explanation? "The study cited a number of reasons for the improvement: lower pregnancy rates in some countries; higher income, which improves nutrition and access to health care; more education for women; and the increasing availability of 'skilled attendants' -- people with some medical training -- to help women give birth. Improvements in large countries like India and China helped to drive down the overall death rates," according to Denise Grady of the New York Times.

I also mentioned in passing that a rival report had come out the same week from the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health. It claimed that its "detailed analysis," showed 350,000 to 500,000 women still die in childbirth every year.

Lo and behold this week, "Trends in maternal mortality" was released by the WHO. Guess what? Since 1990 deaths of women associated with childbirth have dropped by about a third.

[That works out to be about an average annual decline of 2.3%, accounting for the drop of maternal deaths from 546,000 in 1990 to 358,000 in 2008. To meet the Millennium Development Goal target of a 75% reduction between 1990 and 2015, a 5.5% annual decline would be required.]

"The global reduction in maternal death rates is encouraging news," said Dr Margaret Chan, the Director-General of WHO. "Countries where women are facing a high risk of death during pregnancy or childbirth are taking measures that are proving effective; they are training more midwives, and strengthening hospitals and health centers to assist pregnant women."

According to Maugh, "Ten out of the 87 countries with a maternal mortality ratio of 100 or more (100 deaths per 100,000 live-births) are on track to achieve the 2015 goal, the WHO said. But 30 of them have made little or no progress. The best progress overall occurred in Asia, where the number of maternal deaths has dropped by 52% since 1990."

It is no mystery what will save women's lives in the developing nations. The answer came in a speech delivered last April before the delegates gathered at the United Nations for the 43rd Commission on Population and Development.

Jeanne E. Head, R.N., Vice President for International Affairs and UN Representative for National Right to Life, explained

"The WHO tells us that 99% of maternal mortality occurs in the Developing World. We have known how to save women's lives in the developed world for at least 70 years. According to WHO, the dramatic decline in maternal mortality in the Developed World from 1940's to 1950's coincided with the development of obstetric techniques, the availability of antibiotics and improvement in the general health status of women."

"We have known for decades that most maternal deaths can be prevented with adequate nutrition, basic health care, and good obstetric care throughout pregnancy, at delivery, and postpartum," added Scott Fischbach, co-author of "Does legalizing abortion protect women's health? Assessing the argument for expanded abortion access around the globe." Yet "some in the international community have focused resources primarily on legalizing abortion, in many cases at the expense of women's lives." (See http://www.nrlc.org/news/2009/NRL06/MaternalMortality.html.)

One other note, from our April stories. In an editorial that accompanied the study demonstrating a huge decline in maternal mortality, The Lancet's editor, Richard Horton, wrote, "The overall message, for the first time in a generation, is one of persistent and welcome progress."

But Horton also told the Associated Press (AP), "Even before the paper by Hogan et al was submitted to us, we were invited to 'delay' or 'withhold' publication." He added, "Activists perceive a lower maternal mortality figure as actually diluting their message," noting, "Advocacy can sometimes get in the way of science."