Maternal Mortality in Australia

Target 3.1 of the Global Goals aims to address maternal mortality.

Maternal mortality, as defined by the World Health Organisation, is “the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management but not from accidental or incidental causes.”

The Global Goals aim to reduce global maternal mortality ratios to 70 deaths per 100,00 live births. The current global maternal mortality ratio is estimated to be at 216 deaths per 100,000 live births. Australia’s current maternal mortality ratio is estimated to be at 8.5 deaths per 100,000 live births. In this instance, Australia is well ahead of the target set by the 2030 Agenda.

However, there is always room for improvement.

• In 2016, the highest cause of maternal death in Australia was suicide. This points to an obvious need to address the mental health and well-being of pregnant and new mothers in the community.
• The mortality ratio for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women is 4.6 times as high as that of non-Indigenous persons. Drastic action needs to be taken to close the gap on this issue.
• The age bracket with the highest incidence of maternal deaths per…