The Western Pacific region still has a long way to go when it comes to improving maternal health.

The region includes some of the fast growing economies in east Asia. But rising prosperity failed to lift the plight of some of the region's poorest women. The incidence of maternal death remains high, with most pregnant mothers dying from postpartum hemorrhage.

A high maternal mortality rate is "symptomatic of a weak and iniquitous public heath system," said Mercy Fabros of Woman Health Philippines.

"Childbirth is a statement that the body is healthy. And yet there are still women who die while giving birth. That's really a tragedy," Fabros said.

Developing countries committed under the U.N. Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) to reduce by three-quarters the maternal mortality ratio by 2015 from the estimated levels prevailing in 1990. But according to the latest report filed by the World Health Organization (WHO), of the health-related MDG targets, maternal mortality ratio is where the Western Pacific countries "made the least progress."

The WHO estimates that 13,000 maternal deaths occurred in the region in 2008, with huge disparities across and within countries. The WHO notes that while countries like China and Vietnam have succeeded in reducing maternal mortality ratio between 1990 and 2008 (achieving 75 percent of their MDG targets), maternal deaths remain a burden in most countries in the region.

"Clearly, societies and health systems are not doing enough to protect women's health and well-being," said Shin Young-soo, WHO's regional director for the Western Pacific.

In its 2010 MDG Progress Report, the WHO reported maternal mortality remains "unacceptably high" in Cambodia, Laos and Papua New Guinea and among marginalized and underserved groups within these countries.

The WHO report cited limited access to prenatal care and decline in the percentage of births attended by skilled health personnel as among the key reasons behind the high maternal mortality ratio.

WHO said while the number of skilled birth personnel in Laos, Cambodia and the Philippines is increasing, their current coverage rates for births attended by skilled birth personnel remain low, at 20 percent, 44 percent and 60 percent, respectively.

Fabros attributed this to the lack of investments in both facilities and human resources needed to promote maternal health.

She said that in the end this boils down to the failure of governments to reduce poverty incidence the main reason why most women can't afford to pay for prenatal care services, eat nutritious food during pregnancy and ensure that there's a skilled birth attendant a doctor or midwife to attend to them while giving birth.

Apart from the high incidence of maternal deaths, the WHO said that millions of women in the Western Pacific region face a number of avoidable health risks.

For instance, 10 percent of newborn children have a low birth weight in at least seven countries in the region. This, WHO said is a sign of maternal malnutrition. There's also a high prevalence of anemia among pregnant and non-pregnant women.

Neuropsychiatric disorders is also another problem with depressive disorders account to close to 42 percent of the disability from neuropsychiatric disorders among women.

Wang Xiangdong, regional adviser in mental health at WHO, attributed this to the lack of information on how to deal with depression and limited access to trained psychiatrists who can help women cope with depression.

"Few people think that depression is a disorder that can be treated," Wang said.

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