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Save the Children Says Pregnancy Kills or Injures One Million
Girls a Year
Media Contact
Tanya Weinberg202.640.6647 (O), 202.247.6610 (M)
WESTPORT, Conn. (June 26, 2012)Pregnancy is the biggest killer
of teenage girls worldwide, withone million dying or suffering
serious injury, infection or disease due to pregnancy or childbirth
everyyear, Save the Children said today.
In a new report,Every Woman's Right: How family planning saves
children's lives, the internationalhumanitarian and development
agency highlights the many ways that lives are saved when women
canchoose the timing and spacing of their pregnancies. Becoming
pregnant too soon (less than 24 months)after a previous birth is
dangerous for both mothers and babies. In fact, enabling access to
family planningso that women can delay conception for at least
three years after giving birth reduces risk of maternal andnewborn
complications and could save up to 1.8 million lives each year.
However, contraception is not easily available for many. Some
222 million women around the world whodon't want to get pregnant
currently don't have access to contraception. This year, an
estimated 80 millionunintended or mistimed pregnancies will occur
in developing countries.
"As a mother, I know how valuable that recovery time after
giving birth can be. What is more surprising isthat delaying the
next pregnancy dramatically reduces the risk of complications and
death for newborns
and mothers, which is critical," said Save the Children's
President & CEO, Carolyn Miles.
"We encourage families to let their daughters complete school
and delay marriage since those earlypregnancies can be a death
sentence. Our report highlights the important role of health
workers inproviding contraception to help families space births and
how more years of education can help delaymarriage both of which
save children's lives," Miles said.
World leaders are congregating in London next month for a family
planning summit hosted by the UKgovernment and the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation. This comes on the heels of a global Call
to Actionto end preventable child deaths within a generation,
hosted by USAID with the governments of India andEthiopia in
mid-June. Save the Children is calling for policymakers to endorse
this bold goal and seesfamily planning as a key part of the
solution along with other investments in health, nutrition and
girlseducation.
Meeting the entire global need for contraception could prevent
30 percent of maternal deaths and 20percent of neonatal deaths in
the developing worldpotentially saving 649,000 lives a year.
"The U.S. has been a leader in helping to cut by nearly half the
number of children who die each year frompreventable or treatable
causes. We need to keep investing in programs that we know save
children'slives," Miles said.
The report also highlights:
Globally, one in five girls will have had a child by the age of
18.Young mothers are likely to be poor, less educated and living in
rural areas.A woman's lifetime risk of maternal deaththe
probability that a 15 year old girl will ultimatelydie from a
maternal causeis 1 in 3,800 in developed countries but 1 in 150 in
developing
countries.A national survey in Nigeria in 2005 found almost a
third of women believed that certain methodsof contraception could
lead to female infertility.Every $1 spent on family planning saves
at least $4 that would be spent treating
pregnancy-relatedcomplications.
Save the Childrenis the leading, independent organization that
creates lasting change for children in needin the United States and
around the world. Follow us onTwitterandFacebook.
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