Ahead of the London Family Planning Summit the UK medical journal the Lancet published a series of articles examining the key issues at stake at the conference. One of these reports presents important new findings that add to the weight of evidence that shows that having access to contraceptives can significantly reduce maternal mortality.

This report, entitled: “Maternal deaths averted by contraceptive use: an analysis of 172 countries” examined data from the Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG) database, the UN World Contraceptive Use 2010 database, and the UN World Population Prospects 2010 database. Based on the data the report’s authors estimate that over 342 thousand women died of maternal causes in 2008, but that contraceptive use averted a further 272 thousand maternal deaths - a 44% reduction. Accordingly they found that satisfying the unmet need for contraception could prevent another 104 thousand maternal deaths per year, which would constitute a 29% reduction.