Nearly 600,000 women die of pregnancy-related causes each year and 99 per cent of these deaths occur in the developing world. According to the population reference bureau source, many of these deaths can be prevented by increasing awareness of the problem and by taking appropriate measures. A woman's lifetime risk of dying from pregnancy-related complications or during childbirth is one in 48 in the developing world, versus only one in 1,900 in the developed world.