1. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God - Micah 6:8 MDG5: MATERNAL HEALTH

2. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 Mothers are a wonderful gift – we are thankful for the love and sacrifice of our mothers. Whether in Australia or a developing country, mothers give of themselves from the very beginning. But some mothers around the world are being asked to give more than their bodies can bear – thousands die and thousands more are left disabled as they give birth without the support of midwives or health professionals. Mothers

3. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 In 2000, nations of the world promised to tackle the problems of maternal health as part of the Millennium Development Goals. MDG5 – Improve Maternal health Target 5.A. Reduce by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio Target 5.B. Achieve, by 2015, universal access to reproductive health MDG5

4. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 “Investing in children and their mothers is not only a human rights imperative, it is a sound economic decision and one of the surest ways for a country to set its course towards a better future.” UNICEF State of the World’s Children report 2008 UN Photo by Martine Perret

5. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 MDG5 Target: Reduce by 3/4 the proportion of women dying in childbirth by 2015. The rate is declining only very slowly...

6. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 There are almost 130 million pregnant women and births each year! But...

7. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 Every day, almost 1000 women die from pregnancy related complications.... Per year, it is up to 380,000 deaths.

8. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 For every maternal death, another 30-50 women suffer disability due to complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

9. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 99% of all maternal deaths occur in developing countries. Maternal deaths are higher amongst rural areas and amongst poorer and less educated communities.

10. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 80% of maternal deaths are caused by direct obstetric complications: haemorrhage; infection; hypertensive disorders; unsafe abortion. UN Photo by Sophia Paris

11. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 74% of these deaths could be easily prevented with appropriate intervention by medical professionals including nurses, midwives and doctors.

12. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 Lifetime risk of maternal death: Australia 1 in 13,300; Africa 1 in 26.

13. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 Adolescent girls under 15 years are the most vulnerable to pregnancy and childbirth related health complications. UN Photo by Martine Perret Maternal mortality is the highest cause of death for girls this age.

14. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 The survival of women before, during and after childbirth depends on birth planning and skilled ante-natal, delivery and post-natal care. UN Photo by Eskinder Debebe

15. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 45 million women are still delivering children without a skilled birth attendant... Which almost doubles the risk of complications.

16. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 Did you know that most maternal deaths could be avoided? For many women in remote and poor communities, there is a shortage of skilled health workers, especially in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. This makes child birth extremely dangerous and risky because most women deliver without skilled care. In these regions, less than half of pregnant women receive the minimum amount of antenatal care that is recommended. The good news is that the rural-urban gap in skilled care during childbirth has narrowed, but there is still far to go.

17. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 We need to invest in training local midwives in developing communities to help reduce and manage childbirth-related health issues.

18. What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God Micah 6:8 Find out more and take action at www.micahchallenge.org.au