No woman should die while giving life but, every year, over 300,000 women die from complications during childbirth.

At Ferring, we’re committed to reducing maternal mortality and protecting women and families around the world. We believe that every woman should have access to quality care and necessary treatment during pregnancy and childbirth, no matter where she lives. We invest in research to prevent postpartum haemorrhage (PPH), or excessive bleeding after childbirth, and to prevent complications during pregnancy such as pre-eclampsia . We also invest in research to develop new and improve existing methods for the induction of labour.

PPH is the leading direct cause of maternal death worldwide, causing approximately 70,000 women to die each year.^1,2 The majority (99%) of these deaths occur in low- and lower-middle income countries, where in addition to the tragic loss of a women’s life, the death of a mother is known to have a particularly severe social and economic impact on her surviving children, her family, and her community.²

Evidence from the World Health Organization (WHO) shows that most PPH deaths could be avoided with effective preventative treatment ³. The challenge is that the standard of care requires cold-chain transport and storage to maintain its effectiveness. However, in many low- and lower-middle income  countries, where the burden of PPH is the greatest, access to cold chain storage is not readily available.

Read more about the work Ferring is doing in PPH here.

Labour is initiated or induced by obstetricians in situations where it is considered safer, for the mother or the unborn child, to be delivered than to continue the pregnancy. This could be due to pre-eclampsia (sudden, severe rise in blood pressure and kidney impairment), poor intra-uterine growth of the baby, unexplained bleeding in the last phase of pregnancy or a prolonged pregnancy  beyond term (the most common reason).

At Ferring, we’re committed to building healthy families, which is why we continue to invest in research to ensure a safe and successful birth. However more research is needed to address the thousands of women that die every year due to the complications of childbirth.

From conception to birth, we’d love to hear your family-building story! Share online using #projectfamily, or join one of our #projectfamily campaigns.

1. Say L, et al. Global causes of maternal death: a WHO systematic analysis. The Lancet Global Health. 2014; 2(6):e323-33. Available at: https://www.thelancet.com/pdfs/journals/langlo/PIIS2214-109X(14)70227-X.pdf Last accessed: October 2019.
2. World Health Organization. Priority diseases and reasons for inclusion. Postpartum haemorrhage. Available at: http://www.who.int/medicines/areas/priority_medicines/Ch6_16PPH.pdf Last accessed: October 2019.
3. World Health Organization. WHO recommendations: Uterotonics for the prevention of postpartum haemorrhage. Published 2018. Available at https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/277276/9789241550420-eng.pdf?ua=1&ua=1 Last accessed: October 2019.

©Joni Kabana Photography/Concept Foundation/Ferring Pharmaceuticals/MSD for Mothers