Midwives in Timor-Leste will be able to better reach pregnant women across the country by moving around on motorcycles contributed by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The 80 new motorcycles, delivered to the Ministry of Health of Timor-Leste in late April, will help the midwives to widen their outreach to the communities they serve, especially in remote rural areas.

Expanding midwives services is among the main health objectives of the newly independent State. That is particularly crucial to reduce the country’s high level of maternal deaths, which is the highest in Asia and the Pacific, at an estimated 850 per 100,000 live births. It is estimated that only one quarter of all deliveries in Timor-Leste are currently attended by a trained midwife. Increasing the number of midwife-assisted deliveries will help lower maternal death rates.
(Source: UNFPA News, 25 April 2003)