UNICEF marked International Women's Day 2008 last Saturday, 8 March by drawing attention to the need for improvements in maternal health care.

Better access to maternal health care will reduce the estimated half a million pregnancy related deaths that occur each year and also help reduce child mortality rates.

"Evidence from the World Health Organization shows that a motherless child is more likely to die before the age of two than an infant whose mother survives," said Ann M. Veneman, Executive Director of UNICEF. "Improvements in the health of pregnant women and new mothers are critical to ensuring children survive their first years."

The causes of maternal death vary markedly across regions and countries, but maternal mortality is far higher in the developing world than in developed countries. While a number of middle-income countries have made progress in reducing maternal deaths, less progress has been achieved in low-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. In West and Central Africa, on average the risk that a woman will die in childbirth is 1 in 17, compared with 1 in 8,000 in developed countries.

It is estimated that one in four pregnant women currently receives no antenatal care, and that more than 40 percent give birth without the assistance of a skilled attendant.

"Access to pre- and antenatal care must be improved, as part of integrated efforts to establish stronger national health systems," Veneman said. "Investing in maternal health care is crucial for achieving the Millennium Development Goals."

The impact of the absence of adequate pre- and neo-natal care is compounded by other issues women and girls face, such as rape, violence and child marriage.

Across Ghana, the Ministry of Health, with support from UNICEF and other partners, has adopted an integrated health programme to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health through the High Impact Rapid Delivery (HIRD) approach. This integrated approach of cost-effective strategies combines immunisation, infant and young child feeding, management of childhood illnesses and improved antenatal care- is already having a positive impact on the determinants of child and maternal mortality.

More than 3.5 million Insecticide Treated Nets have been distributed to children and pregnant women during successive campaigns in 2006-07 to prevent malaria which affects 3.5 million people every year.