Women's eNews examines maternal health in Morocco

"Morocco has made great strides in improving maternal health in recent years, decreasing its maternal mortality ratio by over 60 percent since 1990," but "a wide maternal health gap" exists between women in urban and rural areas, where deliveries generally are attended by an experienced yet untrained family member, Women's eNews reports. In 2010, according to a 2011 report from the U.N. Population Fund, the maternal mortality rate in urban areas was 73 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared with 148 deaths per 100,000 live births in rural areas, the news service notes. "[W]hen a [rural] woman runs into serious trouble ... access to life-saving care is a two-hour walk away, on a rough mountainous path sometimes blocked by snow," the news service writes, adding Abdelghani Drhimeur, head of communications at the Ministry of Health in Rabat, said, "Seventy percent of mothers who die do so on the way to the hospital." Women's eNews examines several organizations' efforts to educate women about sanitation, hygiene, nutrition, and technical midwifery skills (Bhatia, 9/24).