Maternal Mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa: Steps Towards Millennium Developmental Goals

Background: With one year to the millennium developmental goals (MDGs) target deadline of 2015, goal 5 "Improve maternal health" is still falling short compared to many of the other goals. Its first target: "the reduction of maternal mortality by 75%" will not be realized by the deadline as only 50% deduction had been achieved according to 2013 data. The aim of this paper was review several indicators of Sub-Saharan Africa as they relate to maternal mortality such as GDP per capita, education, access to antenatal care, and skilled birth attendance. Methods: This paper conducted a linear regression with year fixed effects analysis on the effect of various factors, such as skilled birth attendance, antenatal care, and GDP per Capita, on maternal mortality. The method of statistical analysis used for this study was a regression analysis. The unit of analysis is by country. Results: The analysis found that maternal mortality ratio had reduced of the periods of the study. Skilled birth attendance, Antenatal care, Education, GDP per capita and Economic Freedom were significant and were highly correlated with the reduction in maternal mortality. Conclusion: Maternal mortality is an issue that, sadly, still adversely affects the developing regions of the world, which led to its addition in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) in 2000 (United Nations Children's Fund, 2012). Since the inclusion of maternal mortality in the MDGs there has been a reduction in worldwide maternal mortality rate. The reduction of maternal mortality is an ongoing that requires dedication resources and implementation of various strategies.