Matabeleland North has highest maternal mortality rate in Zimbabwe

Thandeka Moyo-Ndlovu, [email protected]

DESPITE efforts by the Government to halve the maternal mortality rate as part of achieving development goals, more women continue to die while giving birth in Matabeleland North than in other provinces.

While the maternity mortality rate stands at 363 per 100,000 live births, according to the Preliminary Results of the 2022 Housing and Population Census, some districts in the province have a rate almost double the national average.

Statistics from the Zimbabwe National Statistical  Agency (Zimstat) also show that Matabeleland North was the least perfuming province in teenage fertility as it went up by 24,9 percent.