Maternal mortality is an all too common global problem. Thousands of women are dying everyday–how do we solve the problem?

It just happened again. And it will happen at least once more before you finish reading this post.

Every minute of every day a woman dies due to pregnancy or childbirth, and nearly all of these deaths take place in developing countries. For each woman who dies, countless others are left with entirely preventable birth injuries, like fistula. This is a violation of women’s most basic human rights. Every woman has the right to deliver her child safely, “the right to live,” (there should be no question!) and the right to information and services that will enable her to be healthy throughout her life.

Ensuring women everywhere have these rights has been my life’s mission. Growing up in Argentina, I saw glaring inequalities in health care access at an early age. Later I trained as a neonatologist intending to help the most vulnerable and at-risk children. I realized very quickly that to have healthy children we must have healthy mothers. And in order for mothers to be healthy, we have to ensure they receive high quality care before, during pregnancy and childbirth, and after, too.

Pregnancy as a risk

With pregnancy there is always some degree of risk. But in countries like Sierra Leone, where women have a 1 in 8 lifetime chance of dying from pregnancy or giving birth, it can be tantamount to Russian roulette. Making sure that all women can get emergency obstetric care will go a long way in improving these odds. Education about, and access to, contraception is also critical for saving lives. Indeed, family planning as a preventive measure is unparalleled. In Africa alone, experts estimate that better access to contraception could avert more than 70,000 maternal deaths annually. More than 250,000 children would be spared the loss of their mothers.

Global consensus on maternal, newborn, and child health

In this day and age, no woman should die giving life. And no woman should die because she was unable to plan her pregnancy. Yet the number of maternal deaths has remained virtually unchanged for the past two decades. This is unconscionable, and it’s why the Group of Eight leaders recently signed on to the global Consensus on Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health, agreeing that the world must do more so that mothers everywhere can deliver their babies safely. I attended the meeting formally launching the Consensus at the United Nations in September, and was encouraged when the governments of Ghana, Liberia, Malawi, Nepal, and Sierra Leone committed to expanding free health care for women, and business executives announced a plan to raise over $3 billion by 2015 for the cause. We may have reached a turning point, and we need to keep building this momentum.

We know exactly what it takes to save women’s lives: better access to high-quality medical care and to family planning. You can help by joining the EngenderHealth-led Maternal Health Task Force, which helps shape collective efforts to improve maternal health worldwide. I hope you will join us, stay informed, and take action now!