The global health community has been buzzing the past few weeks over a new study that finds that fewer women are dying each year during or after pregnancy. Such good news in the field of “maternal health” is unfortunately rare.

Maternal health has lagged behind other health improvements for decades and is one field where the gap between developed and developing countries is huge – about 99% of maternal deaths take place in developing countries. This report, published in the medical journal the Lancet, has provided activists with some needed positive news and shown that investing in maternal health pays.

According to the report’s authors at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at Washington University in the USA, an estimated 526,300 women died from pregnancy and childbirth in 1980. This dropped to 342,900 deaths in 2008, representing a 35% decrease of maternal mortality globally. Countries with significant maternal health improvement included China, Egypt, Ecuador and Bolivia, thanks to a comprehensive approach combining education, increased numbers of health workers and better nutrition.

How can MASSIVEGOOD help improve women’s health worldwide through providing additional funding to UNITAID? HIV, tuberculosis and malaria are still the largest causes of mortality among women. In sub-Saharan Africa, HIV alone accounts for 46% of all deaths among women aged 15 to 59. Combined with tuberculosis and malaria it represents more than half of all female deaths.

Enter UNITAID and its remarkable achievements over the past three years. UNITAID has funded HIV testing for over two million pregnant women in eight high-burden low and middle income countries. Along with its partners, it has provided treatments for over 200,000 HIV-positive pregnant women with more adapted medications.

Such successes are at the heart of the good news we are receiving in the run-up to Mother’s Day. Make sure to give through MASSIVEGOOD next time you travel and visit some useful links below:

Take just one minute (every minute, a woman dies from pregnancy complications) to try the Action for Global Health online game: http://www.mdg5.eu/en/mdg5.swf

Visit the websites of advocates for Maternal Health:

The Partnership on Maternal, Newborn and Child Health: www.pmnch.org

The White-ribbon Alliance: http://www.whiteribbonalliance.org

Upcoming events in Maternal Health:

Women Deliver, June 07-09, Washington DC,

Pacific Health Summit, June 22, London