Trends and challengers of burden of fertility on women’s health

Fertility is defined as the ability to conceive and bear children through normal sexual activity. According to estimates, a fertile woman can bear average 17 pregnancies from menarche to menopause while 10% of cohabiting couples have become sub fertile due to problems like malnutrition or disease, especially sexually transmitted infections. The world reached its one billion population around the year 1800 and 7 billion in 2011 with projections to reach 20 billion by 2100. Due to varying levels of fertility control and increase in death rates, population growth rate in the world has declined in 2-1.5 % per year during the past 30 years. An induced abortion averts about 0.4 births, while about 0.8 births are averted by using moderately effective contraceptives. Although the fertility rates are declining even across the developing world, the world’s population is growing faster due to increased number of sexually active females in the reproductive age, resulted from high fertility rates existed in the past. Almost 97% of this growth was in developing countries due to their high birth rates, high proportion of sexually active population and their less use of modern contraceptives. However, as a result of fast aging, death rate would exceed birth rate resulting negative population growth as seen in many of the developed countries. According to estimates of the World Health Organization in 2003, a woman dies every 8 minutes due to complications arising from unsafe abortions, resulting death in 68,000 women accounting for about 13% of maternal mortalities and 5 million with long-term health complications. Even by 2017, approximately 810 women died from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth every day. Between 2000 and 2017, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR, number of maternal deaths per 100,000 live births) dropped by about 38% worldwide. Out of all maternal deaths, 94% occur in low and middle-income countries. Young adolescents (ages 10-14) face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy than other women in the same age category.