Maternal health education called for

Health authorities have called for access to education to be more widespread in the wake of a new report.

UNICEF has published its annual report on maternal and neonatal health, entitled The State of the World' Children, which has found that four million children died within 28 days of being born last year.

In addition, maternal mortality figures for 2008 read 400 deaths for every 100,000 births.

More supervision of pregnant women and increased medial monitoring of infants has been suggested, particularly in Africa and Asia.

Marie-Claire Mutanda, head of maternal and neonatal health for UNICEF-Niger, said that "the situation is unacceptable".

"Women are a force for development for a country. We must give them access to education and decision-making," she stated.

The report added that implementing the ideas needs to be the priority as there is a consensus on what needs to be done.

A World Health Organisation report in 2005 found that more than 90 per cent of maternal deaths in 2005 occurred in the developing world.

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