Maternal Mortality Across CARICOM: Long-Term Progress, Slowing Pace

New UN estimates show most CARICOM countries have reduced maternal mortality since 2000, but progress has slowed in the most recent eight years.

The lifetime risk that a woman will die from pregnancy-related causes – accumulated across her reproductive years – ranges from 1 in 118 (Haiti) to 1 in 2,108 (Antigua and Barbuda) across CARICOM, according to new United Nations joint estimates for 2023.

Most CARICOM countries fell between 1 in 500 and 1 in 2,100 – lower risk than the world average (1 in 272), and broadly in line with the wider Latin America and Caribbean region (1 in 789).

Looking back over two decades, the picture is uneven. Suriname, Guyana, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, and Dominica have all seen maternal mortality fall by 40% or more since 2000, with several others, including Haiti, also recording reductions. Three countries – Jamaica, The Bahamas, and Grenada – recorded higher levels in 2023 than in 2000.

The slowdown reflects broader patterns. Latin America and the Caribbean saw the smallest reduction (16.8%) of any region between 2000 and 2023. Even so, 8 of the 14 CARICOM countries have already met the Sustainable Development Goal target – fewer than 70 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030.

Source : Trends in maternal mortality estimates 2000 to 2023, published 2025 by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA, the World Bank Group, and UNDESA. Lifetime risk is the probability that a woman will eventually die from a pregnancy-related cause over her reproductive lifetime. The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births.