The Girls Table calls for urgent action on maternal, newborn deaths
Loraine Phiri
The Girls Table has called on the Government to urgently increase investment in maternal and newborn healthcare, saying preventable deaths should spur immediate policy action rather than remain statistics.
The call follows recent reports presented before Parliament showing that 563 women died from pregnancy and childbirth-related complications while 6,177 newborns died in Zimbabwe in 2025.
In a statement, the organisation said the figures represented more than statistics.
“These are not merely statistics. They represent mothers whose lives ended while bringing new life into the world, babies who never had the chance to grow and thrive, and families permanently altered by loss.”
The Girls Table added: “Every preventable maternal and newborn death is a profound human tragedy, and a painful reminder that access to quality healthcare remains unequal for many women and girls.”
The organisation said safe pregnancy and childbirth should be treated as a fundamental human right.
“As an organisation committed to advancing the rights, leadership, and well-being of girls and young women, we believe safe pregnancy and childbirth are fundamental human rights. No woman should lose her life for lack of timely, quality maternal healthcare, and no newborn should die from preventable causes.”
The Girls Table said the latest maternal and newborn deaths also threaten Zimbabwe’s commitment to Sustainable Development Goal 3 on good health and well-being and reminded government of its commitment under the Abuja Declaration to increase investment in the health sector.
“Adequate, predictable investment is essential to strengthening maternal and newborn services, addressing shortages of healthcare workers, improving emergency obstetric care, ensuring the availability of medicines and equipment, and maintaining functional referral and ambulance systems.”
The organisation also called for greater transparency and accountability in addressing maternal and newborn mortality.
“We further call for the timely publication of maternal and perinatal death review findings, and the implementation of their recommendations, to strengthen accountability, improve the quality of care, and ensure lessons from every preventable death inform policies that save lives.”
Among its recommendations, The Girls Table urged authorities to increase public investment in maternal, newborn and reproductive healthcare in line with the Abuja Declaration, strengthen primary healthcare systems, improve access to skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care, expand access to sexual and reproductive health services, and strengthen data collection and accountability mechanisms.
The organisation said these measures were necessary to prevent future deaths and improve maternal and newborn health outcomes across the country.
The organisation said Zimbabwe “cannot accept preventable maternal and newborn deaths as inevitable” and reaffirmed its commitment to advocating for policies and investments that uphold the health, dignity and rights of women and girls.
