Girls under 15 are five times more likely to die. In addition, when mothers die in childbirth, their surviving children are less likely to attend school regularly, complete their education, or receive sufficient health care. We could prevent 30 to 40 percent of infant deaths each year, up to 2.5 million, by providing mothers with prenatal care and skilled assistance from a health professional during and immediately following delivery. Yet, nearly half of all deliveries in developing countries take place without the help of a skilled professional. Fewer than one-third of new mothers get postnatal care, even though most maternal deaths happen soon after childbirth.
Health services are too far away, of poor quality, or unaffordable.
Women often lack the power to make decisions about their own health care and adolescent girls often do not know how to seek care and cannot afford it. In some cases, families may simply decide that a mothers' life is not worth the cost or time needed to save it. Along with maternal death and illness, women and adolescent girls face a host of other reproductive health problems, all of which affect the lives of their children. For instance, between 120 and 150 million women would like to delay or prevent future pregnancies, but lack access to family planning services. Family planning helps save lives by preventing unwanted pregnancy and allowing births to be spaced.