UNITED NATIONS - A million women die each year in childbirth, most of them in Africa and southern Asia, with their numbers rising each year, according to an international group of physicians.
Calling maternal mortality the "biggest tragedy of our time," Dr Daniel Weinstein, president of the World Society of Labour and Delivery, said: "More people are dying in labour and delivery than all the dead in all the wars."
In an attempt to focus attention on the issue, the society has organised a conference in Marrakesh next month for doctors, scientists, midwives and other health specialists.