Maternal Mortality Ratio in Eastern Mediterranean Region: A Priority of Reproductive Health

Maternal mortality reduction is a key international sustainable development goal. Although maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has changed in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, the trend of maternal deaths in the countries of the region is important. This review article provided the current situation and trend of MMR in the Eastern Mediterranean region between 1990 and 2015.

In this review, country profiles and data were obtained through UNDPA, UNICEF, UNDP, WHO, and World Bank websites. Then, a literature search was performed in PubMed, Science Direct, Scopus, and Google Scholar in this regard.

Based on the collected data, 36 out of 66 studies met the required criteria and were chosen for analysis. All countries of this region showed a downward trend between 1990 and 2015, and this change varied from 16.30% in Yemen to 76.56% in Lebanon. The maternal mortality reduction was 69.88% in Iran in the same time.

Although all countries of the Eastern Mediterranean Region demonstrated a downward trend in MMR, this trend was not the same in all countries. Thus, it is needed to boost regional efforts to further reduce MMR and achieve sustainable development goals by 2030.