Researchers working with the ministry of health in Niger say they have managed to more than halve the number of women who are dying due to blood loss after giving birth in health facilities.
Blood loss has long been the biggest cause of maternal deaths in Niger and many other developing nations.
Over the last six years the NGO Health and Development Initiative has introduced in Niger a combination of treatments that includes providing health workers with a low-cost medicine.
The findings – published in the medical journal the Lancet – are extremely encouraging.
Out of almost 1.5 million births, the proportion of women bleeding to death in health facilities across Niger fell by well over a half.
The researchers say the initiative can easily be rolled out in other countries and could lead to a dramatic fall in global maternal mortality rates.
SOURCE: BBC NEWS
