Accelerating Improvement in Maternal Health: Why reform is needed

At least 10,000 women continue to die of childbirth-related causes every year in Indonesia. Even with the most recent estimate of 229 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births (Lancet 20102), Indonesia’s MMR remains among the highest in East Asia. At the same time, past eff orts are not to be minimized (Figure 1): in the fi ve years prior to the 2007 IDHS survey, more than 73 percent of births were attended by a professional health provider (doctor, nurse, or midwife) and facility-based deliveries increased to 47 percent, with over 90 percent of the recent increase due to the use of private sector facilities. Cesarean section rates, an important measure of comprehensiveness of care, increased from 0.8 percent in 1986-89 to 6.8 percent in 2003-07, again mostly provided in private sector facilities.