Each year, more than 500,000 women die from complications in pregnancy and childbirth, even though the means exist to save the vast majority. Millions more are disabled. The AMDD Program was established in 1999 to work with developing countries and international agencies to improve availability, quality and utilization of emergency obstetric care.
he geographic distribution of the hundreds of thousands of maternal deaths each year is telling: 99% of deaths in childbirth are in the developing world. Such disparity is mirrored within countries where poor women are more likely to die or become disabled than those with means. Many deaths, of women and their newborns, can be prevented with emergency obstetric care delivered through well-functioning health systems. Maternal and newborn death and disability are personal tragedies, symptoms of health systems in crisis, and profound violations of human rights.