From 574 to 136 per Thousands: WHO Hails Bangladesh for Successfully Reducing Maternal Mortality

There was a time when giving birth in Bangladesh could be a matter of life and death in a way that is difficult to imagine today. In the mid-1980s, the country recorded around 574 maternal deaths for every 100,000 live births. By 2023, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics reported the figure at 136.

That is one of Bangladesh’s most important public health achievements. But it also raises a harder question: what will it take to save the mothers who are still being missed?

The progress did not come from one intervention. Expanded antenatal care, greater use of health facilities, skilled birth attendance, family planning and improvements in maternal health services have all contributed. WHO has described Bangladesh as a regional leader in health transformation, noting the decline in the national MMR from 376 in 2003 to 136 in 2023.

The latest recognition from WHO South-East Asia gives this progress further weight. In September 2026, Bangladesh was recognised for bringing maternal mortality below 140 per 100,000 live births ahead of the 2030 deadline under the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality framework.

But there is an important distinction. Below 140 is not the SDG 3.1 target. The global SDG target is fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030. Bangladesh has therefore crossed an important milestone, but the larger journey is far from complete.

The remaining gaps are revealing. Bangladesh’s 2022 Demographic and Health Survey found that 88% of women received antenatal care from a medically trained provider, but only 41% received at least four antenatal visits. About 70% of live births were assisted by medically trained providers. Preliminary findings from the 2025 Bangladesh MICS show that only 43.3% of women received at least four antenatal contacts, while 77.7% had skilled attendance at birth.

These numbers point to a central SRHR issue: access is not simply about having a service somewhere. It is about whether women can reach it in time, afford it, trust it and receive quality care without discrimination.

The rural-urban divide also remains significant. Bangladesh’s 2025 SDG progress report puts the 2023 national MMR at 136, while noting a rural MMR of 157. That difference matters because maternal health is closely connected to poverty, geography, education, transport, gender norms and decision-making power.

Midwives could become an important part of the next chapter. In 2026, Bangladesh announced a commitment to deploy 25,000 midwives, while UNFPA noted that only 2,557 midwives were serving 6,215 public health facilities at the time.

So Bangladesh has a success story, but not yet a finished one.

The fall from 574 to 136 shows what sustained investment can achieve. The next challenge is making sure that a woman’s chance of surviving pregnancy does not depend on where she lives, how much she earns or how quickly she can reach care.

“Progress is possible” is not the final message. The stronger message is that progress must now reach everyone.