Factbox: 10 facts about childbirth, maternal deaths and midwives

By Kieran Guilbert DAKAR (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Boosting the number of midwives in Nigeria, and globally, would reduce the number of stillbirths and women dying during or just after giving birth, according to the founder of women's rights organization Wellbeing Foundation Africa. Midwives can provide the majority of the services needed for newborns and pregnant women and those cared for by midwives are less likely to have complicated births or go into labor early. Toyin Saraki spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation ahead of this week's Global Midwifery Conference in Abuja, which is hosting its first global conference on midwifery. [L5N17Z1QO] "Midwives will be the army to change dire health outcomes, if we invest in them and provide them with skills," she said. To mark International Day of the Midwife on May 5, here are some facts about childbirth, maternal mortality and midwifery: * In sub-Saharan Africa, a woman is 100 times more likely todie during pregnancy or childbirth than one from anindustrialized country. * Around 800 women and more than 8,000 newborns die everyday due to largely preventable complications during pregnancy,childbirth and the immediate postnatal period. * Since 1990, maternal death has dropped by 44 percent andthe death of children under five by 41 percent. * In 2013, there were an estimated 2.6 million stillbirths,3 million newborn deaths and 289,000 maternal deaths. * Seventy-three countries in Africa, Asia and Latin Americaaccount for 96 percent of the world's maternal deaths, 91percent of stillbirths and 93 percent of newborn deaths. * Yet these countries only have 42 percent of the world'sdoctors, midwives and nurses. * There are two doctors and 11 nurses or midwives for every10,000 people in Africa, compared with 19 doctors and 49 nursesor midwives per 10,000 in the Americas, and 32 doctors and 78nurses or midwives per 10,000 in Europe. * Only one in five countries have enough adequately educatedmidwives to meet the basic needs of women and newborns. * More than one third of all births around the world takeplace without a midwife or other skilled health staff. * Investing in midwifery education could yield a 16-foldreturn on investment in terms of lives saved and costs ofcaesarean sections avoided.Sources: World Health Organisation, United Nations Population Fund. (Reporting By Kieran Guilbert, Editing by Katie Nguyen; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, corruption and climate change. Visit news.trust.org)