10. To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what steps his Department is taking to reduce the number of women who die in pregnancy and childbirth in developing countries. (130169)

DFID set out its priorities for action to “improve maternal health” in our 2004 strategy ‘Reducing maternal deaths: evidence and action’. This strategy guides DFID's approach to helping developing countries to improve the availability of and access to life saving services for pregnant women. For example in Nigeria DFID has a £55 million programme of support for health system strengthening with a focus on maternal health. In Ekiti state this support has resulted in a 100 per cent. increase in the number of women who are cared for by a health professional during childbirth.