Morning Briefing

Al Jazeera examines maternal mortality worldwide, saying, "If the situation continues at its current rate, the world will not meet" the U.N. Millennium Development Goal "to reduce maternal mortality by 75 percent between 1990 and 2015." Though the estimated number of women who die of maternal mortality has dropped from 546,000 in 1990 to 340,000 today, a woman's lifetime risk of dying during or following pregnancy in developing countries "is still high at one in 31," compared with one in 4,300 in developed countries, the news agency reports. "Attaining zero maternal death would require greater community involvement and commitment" and increased access to contraceptives and skilled birth attendants, according to experts, Al Jazeera notes (Arjunpuri, 3/19).