'Preventable' maternal mortality in Haiti

A huge number of maternal deaths occurring in Haiti are easily preventable, it has been claimed.

The maternal mortality ratio in the country is more than five times the Latin American and Caribbean average.

According to UNICEF figures, 670 women in Haiti died of pregnancy-related causes in 2006 out of 10,000 live births.

This gives the country the highest maternal mortality rate in the Western Hemisphere, with only Nepal and Afghanistan suffering worse rates in the Middle East and South Asia.

Dr Wendy Lai, an emergency obstetrician with Doctors Without Borders Holland, told AP: "The maternal mortality rate in Haiti is embarrassing to the Western world ... these are preventable deaths."

In comparison, in the US there were 11 deaths from pregnancy-related causes in 2006.

Doctors Without Borders recently released a report to mark International Women's Day that revealed the organisation treated more than 12,000 victims of sexual assault in 2007.

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