death in childbirth

[joanna bujes]

At 07:19 PM 01/30/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>A woman's lifetime risk of dying due to maternal causes (pregnancy,
>delivery and related complication) is:
>
>in Africa, one in 19;
>in Asia, one in 132;
>in Latin America, one in 188;
>in more-developed countries, only [sic] one in 2,976 (21).

I wonder whether the horrific stats for Africa have anything to do with 
female circumcision and infibulation...? Anybody know?

Joanna