National Reproductive Health Strategy

Abstract

Ethiopia is among the countries with a good progress in reducing maternal mortality. According to the Ethiopian Demographic and Health Surveys (EDHS), Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has dropped from 871 in 2000 to 676 in 2011 per 100,000 live births. According to estimates by the UN InterAgency Group (UN-IAG), substantial declines in maternal deaths have been achieved over the last two decades. According to their estimate, the MMR had declined from 1250 to 353 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births between 1990 and 2015. The absolute number of women who died during pregnancy or childbirth had also decreased nearly by 70%, from 31,000 in 1990 to around 13,000 in 2013. Based on this achievement, Ethiopia is acknowledged as one of the countries in progress towards MDG5 MMR target of 267 per 100,000 live births. According to the 2014 Countdown report, the majority of maternal deaths occur during the intrapartum and immediate postpartum periods due to hemorrhage (25%), pre-eclampsia/eclamp