Myanmar trains midwives to tackle maternal death rate

Midwives use medical models during a training at Central Women's Hospital in Yangon, Myanmar March 17, 2017. Picture taken on March 17, 2017. REUTERS/Pyay Kyaw Aung

YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar is training up hundreds of midwives in an effort to reduce the number of women who die in childbirth, one of many social policy reforms launched by the country as it emerges from decades of military rule.

Statistics show childbirth and pregnancy-related complications are the leading causes of death among women in Myanmar, mainly due to delays in reaching emergency care.