I was just down at the Palais de Nations for a press conference to release our latest estimates of maternal mortality progress. A collaborative effort with other UN Agencies and academic groups that has taken quite a lot of time and effort, as well as considerable interactions with countries about the data and results. The new estimates show a 45% reduction in maternal deaths since 1990. An estimated 289,000 women died in 2013 due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth, down from 523,000 in 1990. The rate of progress appears to have accelerated in the last decade, but death rates remain very high in many African countries. Ten countries account for 60% of global maternal deaths.

http://www.who.int/reproductivehealth/publications/monitoring/maternal-mortality-2013/en/