This factsheet focuses on the progress towards achieving Millennium Development Goal 5 – improving maternal mortality. It includes the following update:

Target 5.A:
Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio

• Maternal mortality has nearly halved since 1990. An estimated 287,000 maternal deaths occurred in 2010 worldwide, a decline of 47 per cent from 1990. All regions have made progress but accelerated interventions are required in order meet the target.
• In Eastern Asia, Northern Africa and Southern Asia, maternal mortality has declined by around two-thirds.
• Nearly 50 million babies worldwide are delivered without skilled care.
• The maternal mortality ratio in developing regions is still 15 times higher than in the developed regions.
• The rural-urban gap in skilled care during childbirth has narrowed.

Target 5.B:
Achieve universal access to reproductive health

• More women are receiving antenatal care. In developing regions, antenatal care increased from 63 per cent in 1990 to 81 per cent in 2011.
• Only half of women in developing regions receive the recommended amount of health care they need.
• Fewer teens are having children in most developing regions, but progress has slowed.
• The large increase in contraceptive use in the 1990s was not matched in the 2000s.
• The need for family planning is slowly being met for more women, but demand is increasing at a rapid pace.
• Official Development Assistance for reproductive health care and family planning remains low.