Topic:
Country: Brazil
Delegate Name: John Murphy
World Health Organization
Maternal Mortality
Brazil
John Murphy
Maternal mortality, or the death of women during childbirth, is a major healthcare issue affecting many nations across the globe. Even though the rate of maternal mortality has been dropping for decades, it is still a huge problem in many places, particularly in poorer and developing countries. Since the year 2000, maternal mortality rates have dropped by around 40%, and there were more than 350,000 fewer deaths during childbirth in the year 2023 than in 1985. The primary reason for this decrease is an increase in the availability of healthcare and maternal healthcare services worldwide. However, there is a major difference in maternal mortality rates among countries, as many poorer or developing countries still have greatly impoverished populations who lack reliable access to healthcare. If maternal mortality rates are to continue dropping, we need to improve healthcare access to populations in developing countries all over the world.
In Brazil, maternal mortality had been trending downwards for decades before the COVID-19 pandemic, when the rates climbed again. However, the primary problem in Brazil is the racial disparity in access to maternal healthcare. Black women in Brazil die during childbirth almost twice as much as white women. There are a lot of reasons for this, mainly the income inequality and the poor living conditions that many black women in Brazil are subject to. The Brazilian Ministry of Health enacted the National Policy for Integral Health of the Black Population in 2010, intending to lower these barriers and make healthcare more equitable for all. Additionally, in 2011, Brazil’s Ministry of Health created the Stork Network as a care network meant to help care for mothers and newborn children by increasing access to obstetricians and other healthcare specialists.
Despite the great global success in lowering maternal mortality rates, much more still needs to be done, especially in lower-income countries, where the maternal mortality rate (MMR) in 2017 was 450 deaths per 100,000 births, while the MMR in higher-income countries was 11. More countries around the world need to pass similar resolutions to the Brazilian Ministry of Health’s in order to expand healthcare access to their more marginalized populations. Furthermore, wealthier countries need to take a more active role in helping developing nations. Foreign aid could be an invaluable asset to many nations that would otherwise struggle to help their populations.
Brazil believes that the United Nations should expand access to maternal care by widening access to specialized medical experts and technology, especially access to obstetricians. Brazil would be glad to work with other countries, specifically nearby nations, to increase access to these resources in its more impoverished areas, as well as in other countries needing support.
Sources:
Roser, Max, and Hannah Ritchie. “Maternal Mortality.” Our World in Data, 12 Nov. 2013, ourworldindata.org/maternal-mortality.
Pacagnella, Rodolfo Carvalho, et al. “Maternal Mortality in Brazil: Proposals and Strategies for Its Reduction.” Revista Brasileira de Ginecologia e Obstetricia : Revista Da Federacao Brasileira Das Sociedades de Ginecologia e Obstetricia, U.S. National Library of Medicine, Sept. 2018, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10316915/.
Silva, Amanda Dantas, et al. “Racial Disparities and Maternal Mortality in Brazil: Findings from a National Database.” Revista de Saude Publica, U.S. National Library of Medicine, 5 July 2024, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11196092/.
“Strengthening Equity and Anti-Racism in Women’s Care: A Quality Improvement Initiative Reducing Institutional Maternal Mortality in Brazil | International Journal for Equity In Health | Full Text.” BioMed Central, equityhealthj.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12939-025-02452-z. Accessed 26 Nov. 2025.
