The worldwide maternal mortality rate may drop by one-third, but Africa and South Asia still have different stories to tell, according a new report by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Bank and the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Ninety-nine percent of all maternal deaths in 2008 occurred in developing regions, with sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia accounting for 57 percent and 30 percent of all deaths respectively,” said the report titled ‘Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2008’ released on Wednesday.

“Eleven countries including Afghanistan, Bangladesh, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Sudan, and the United Republic of Tanzania, comprised 65 percent of all maternal deaths in 2008,” said the report.

The report mentioned that pregnant women still die from four major causes: severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, hypertensive disorders, and unsafe abortion.

According to the report, “The risk of a woman in a developing country dying from a pregnancy-related cause during her lifetime is about 36 times higher compared to a woman living in a developed country.”

“The number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth has decreased by 34 percent from an estimated 546,000 in 1990 to 358,000 in 2008,” the 55-page report said.

It also gave a positive outlook of Asia as a whole in the report where the number of maternal deaths was more than halved. “Between 1990 and 2008, the number of maternal deaths is estimated to have dropped from 315,000 to 139,000 in Asia,” the report noted.

“The global reduction in maternal death rates is encouraging news,” says Margaret Chan, the director-general of WHO. “No woman should die due to inadequate access to family planning and to pregnancy and delivery care,” she mentioned.

The report also suggested that countries need to invest in their health systems and in the quality of care. “To achieve our global goal of improving maternal health and to save women's lives we need to do more to reach those who are most at risk,” says Anthony Lake, executive director of UNICEF.

The report mentioned that 34 percent decline since 1990 is not just enough as it comes around to just 2.3 percent annually, which is still less than the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) target of reducing the maternal mortality ratio. To achieve MDG commitment by 2015, there should be an annual decline of 5.5 percent to achieve the target.

“The lack of maternal health care violates women's rights to life, health, equality, and non-discrimination. MDG - 5 can be achieved,” says Thoraya Ahmed Obaid, the executive director of UNFPA. “But we urgently need to address the shortage of health workers and step up funding for reproductive health services.”

Maternal health is one of the topics to be discussed in the forthcoming MDG summit scheduled to be held September 20-22 in New York. The others are eradicating extreme poverty, reducing child deaths and fighting disease etc.