Question to the Department for International Development:

To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to reduce maternal mortality.

Every year, the UK spends approximately £1 billion on reproductive, maternal, new-born and child health care.

The majority of maternal deaths are caused by complications during and following pregnancy and childbirth, such as severe bleeding, infections, complications from delivery and unsafe abortion. DFID works to reduce maternal mortality through a range of programmes, which focus on effective family planning, training health workers to manage obstetric emergencies and improving countries’ health systems to ensure health workers, drugs, equipment and transport are available when women and children need care.