Over the period between 1990 and 2015, Portugal recorded an average annual reduction of 2.1 percent in its maternal mortality rate, defined as the death of a woman either in childbirth or within six weeks of having given birth.
In Portugal, in 1990, there were 17 such deaths for every 100,000 births with the rate dropping to 13 in 2000, to 11 in 2010 and to 10 in 2015.
Topping the list of countries with the lowest such rates are Finland, Greece, Iceland and Poland with three deaths per 100,000 births.
Germany, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, Italy, Malta and Montenegro are among the other countries outperforming Portugal and registering fewer than 10 deaths per 100,000 births.
The report states that a total of around 303,000 women will lose their lives this year as a result of birth related complications, against a total of 532,000 in 1990.
This represents an “overall ratio of 216 maternal deaths per 100,000 newborns, down by 385 on 1990,” the report details, whilst only nine countries had achieved the 75 percent fall in such deaths aimed at by the Millennium Development Goals.
Those nine were Bhutan, Cape Verde, Cambodia, Iran, Laos, the Maldives, Mongolia, Rwanda and East Timor.
The single greatest area of improvement was in East Asia where maternal mortality has dropped from 95 to 27 per 100,000 births.
Furthermore, while Sub-Saharan Africa remains a drag on the overall figure, accounting for two-thirds of all such deaths worldwide, the report pointed out that the ratio there was nevertheless down 45 percent over the quarter century period before concluding “guaranteeing access to high quality healthcare services during pregnancy and childbirth is helping to save lives.”