Key Publications

Thematic Fund for Maternal Health

The Maternal Health Thematic Fund - Business Plan 2008-2011

Maternal Health Thematic Fund Annual Report 2008

Safe Motherhood

Accelerating Progress: The Maternal Health Thematic Fund

In 2008, UNFPA launched the Maternal Health Thematic Fund to accelerate progress towards making safe motherhood a reality in some of the poorest countries in the world. It is one response to the fact that improving maternal health is the Millennium Development Goal target lagging farthest behind, especially in the poorest countries.

Every year more than 500,000 women die of pregnancy-related complications and millions more suffer from debilitating injuries. . Though the global number has changed little over the last decade, some countries have dramatic progress in improving maternal health. Experience from countries such as Egypt, Guatemala and Sri Lanka shows that maternal mortality in developing countries can be reduced rapidly if adequate political and financial support is in place and effective approaches employed. The Maternal Health Thematic Fund aims to jump-start progress in countries where far too many women continue to die from preventable complications of childbearing.

Strategic approach

The Maternal Health Thematic Fund focuses  on high-priority countries – those with maternal mortality ratios of over 300 deaths per 100,000 live births. The  approach of the fund s to strengthen national health systems, rather than create parallel structures, and to help governments overcome obstacles that prevent their own maternal health plans from succeeding.

Support from the  Maternal Health Thematic Fund is provided to national governments in close coordination with UNFPA’s Global Programme on Reproductive Health Commodity Security and the  Campaign to End Fistula. This fosters a strengthened and streamlined approach towards accelerating progress towards MDG5 and ensuring that every pregnancy is wanted and every birth safe.

Technical and financial support provided through the Maternal Health Thematic Fund aims to:

Addressing human resource and data gapsKey components of the Maternal Health Trust Fund’s work include supporting programmes that build up human resources for maternal health and needs assessments that provide countries with up-to-date data in the area of obstetric care.

Data show that less than two thirds of women in developing countries receive assistance from a skilled health worker when giving birth. As long as women continue to give birth without skilled care, the number of women dying in childbirth will remain stagnant UNFPA has partnered with the International Confederation of Midwives to address this critical gap.  The Midwifery Programme  is iimproving and expanding midwifery training and strengthening national midwifery associations in 15 priority countries.

Without up-to-date data, countries are not able accurately identify the best strategies for improving maternal health. In strong collaboration with UNICEF, WHO and Columbia University, the fund supports emergency obstetric care field surveys in priority countries to identify gaps in services.Surveys have already been conducted in Ethiopia, Cambodia and Haiti and another 12 are planned for 2010.

Progress of the Maternal Health Trust Fund

 As of November 2009, $38 million in donations had been received from:  Austria, Finland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Spain and Sweden. Twenty one countries in four regions have  been assisted so far:

In total, 60 high priority maternal mortality countries are expected to receive support over the next four years.

Country examples

Guyana is one of the poorest countries in the Americas, with a gross national income of $1300 per capita and one of the highest levels of maternal death in the region. Though the country is known for the quality of its midwives, Guyana has a problem of out-migration. Many of its trained health professionals end up leaving the country for positions elsewhere, where they can find better living and working conditions. As a result, maternity wards and reproductive health programmes are poorly staffed, especially in rural areas. One strategy to help curb this trend is to enhance the support and status they are accorded within the overall health system.

In Malawi 16 women die every day in pregnancy or childbirth. This African country has one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in the world at 1,100 deaths per 100,000 live births. Though the Government has shown strong commitment to the issue and has launched a roadmap for maternal health, a number of obstacles hinder progress. There is a serious shortage of doctors and nurses, with vacancy rates of over 60 per cent. Access to delivery kits, critical drugs and other supplies is limited. The fertility rate remains high - about six pregnancies per woman. Young women in Malawi tend to marry early, risking teenage pregnancy, obstetric fistula and HIV. The Maternal Health Thematic Fund will focus on strengthening Malawi's health system both at the national and district levels. It will also support family planning activities, youth-friendly health services, training for birth attendants and education about maternal health services.

In Ethiopia, reducing the high maternal mortality ratio - 720 deaths per 100,000 live births - is one of the greatest public health challenges facing the country. Every year 22,000 women and girls die as a result of complications during pregnancy or childbirth, and more than 500,000 suffer from pregnancy-related disabilities. The population is growing at a rate of two million people a year and the health system is under increasing strain. In view of these enormous challenges, a nationwide assessment of hospitals and health centres is underway to clearly identify gaps in the health system. Based on this assessment, the Maternal Health Thematic Fund will help address the bottlenecks to proper maternal health care.

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