Sierra Leone ranks 3rd among countries with highest maternal deaths
The proportion of maternal deaths is decreasing, says a new report by the World Health Organization, UNICEF, UNFPA, World Bank, and the United Nations Population Division. But the lifetime risk of maternal mortality for a 15-year-old girl in Sierra Leone is 1 in 20. The West African nation is one of three countries estimated to have had an extremely high maternal mortality ratio in 2017 (defined as over 1000 maternal deaths per 100 000 live births), with the highest maternal mortality ratio being in South Sudan. Sixteen other countries, all also in Africa except for one, are estimated to have very high maternal mortality ratio in 2017, ranging between 500 and 999. The 10 countries with the highest maternal mortality ratios in order from highest to lowest are: South Sudan Chad Sierra Leone Nigeria The Central African Republic Somalia Mauritania Guinea-Bissau Liberia Afghanistan Nigeria and India had the highest numbers of maternal deaths, and accounted for approximately one t