Down but still short of target Despite reducing maternal mortality by 44 per cent between 1990 and 2015, the world fell short of the target of a 75 per cent reduction, set as part of the Millennium Development Goals (MDG), according to new research published in The Lancet.

The study was led by the University of Massachusetts, the World Health Organisation and representatives from he UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group and academia.