Childbirth in Africa

Zimbabwe is dismal:

A staggering 42,000 women died in childbirth last year, compared with fewer than 1,000 a decade ago.

And Zambia is not much better:

"Being pregnant in Africa is like having an unknown disease," says Zambian mother Alice Tembo, referring to many of her compatriots' lack of basic knowledge about pregnancy and childbirth.

She has recently given birth without any complications, which is exceptional in a country where the maternal mortality ratio is 728 per 100,000 live births.

However, Zambia's maternal death rate is still lower that the rate for the whole of the sub-Saharan African region, which stood at a shocking 920 per 100,000 live births in 2000 according to the United Nations Statistics Division.

Internationally, sub-Saharan Africa has by far the highest ratio of maternal deaths. It is more than double the rate for the world as a whole, which is 400 deaths per 100,000 live births.