Jordan's maternal mortality rate dropped from 29.8 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2021 to 28 in 2022, excluding deaths related to COVID-19. In case COVID-19-related deaths are included, the rate falls from 85 per 100,000 in 2021 to 33 in 2022, according to the fifth national maternal mortality report for 2022.

Released by the Ministry of Health on Monday, the report was prepared by the National Committee on Maternal Mortality and the Maternal and Neonatal Mortality Department in collaboration with the USAID-funded Health Services Quality Improvement Project, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The results attributed the progress to improvements in maternal mortality strategies, which provides optimism for controlling all preventable causes in the coming years. 

The report showed that more than half of maternal deaths are directly related to pregnancy, with acute pulmonary embolism being the leading cause at 20 per cent. This was followed by COVID-19-related deaths, with postpartum haemorrhage accounting for 13.4 per cent.