Pregnancy is not a disease, yet it kills one woman every minute. Almost all of these deaths are preventable and 95% of them occur in developing countries.

Poverty, violence and lack of education lead to the avoidable deaths of women in childbirth, with a host of knock-on effects on children and communities.

The lifetime risk of maternal death in Sweden is only one in nearly 30,000; in Sierra Leone it is one in eight. Yet in many countries - for example Nepal, Sri Lanka and Honduras - action by governments has reduced maternal mortality.

Amnesty International campaigns for preventable maternal death to be recognised as a human rights issue.

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http://www.amnesty.org.uk/content.asp?CategoryID=11178