Progress towards the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) target for Bangladesh: The role of female education

Educational attainment among women is a well-recognized predictor for maternal mortality. Data from nationally representative surveys and the United Nations are used in the analysis for estimating maternal mortality due to improved education status up to 2030. Analysis of data from 2001 and 2010 Bangladesh Maternal Mortality Survey shows that MMR varies considerably by education level. The study shows that during 2011–2030, 15% maternal deaths will be averted due to fertility change (i.e. fewer births) and 24% of the maternal deaths can be averted only by improving the female education levels. However, in order to achieve the Ending Preventable Maternal Mortality (EPMM) target of 59 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2030 for Bangladesh, a further 64% reduction will be required. Factors outside the health sector, like female education, will continue to have an impact maternal mortality in Bangladesh. However, reaching the EPMM target for Bangladesh by 2030 will also require significant investments in maternal health programs, in particular those to increase access to and quality of services. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. ### Funding Statement We are grateful to the Carolina Population Center and its NIH Center grant (R24 HD050924) for general support. The study was supported by the UK Department for International Development through ICDDR,B and by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under the terms of MEASURE Evaluation cooperative agreement AID-OAA-L-14-00004. Both the 2001 and 2010 BMMS surveys were implemented under the authority of the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT) of the Government of Bangladesh with funding by the Government of Bangladesh, USAID Bangladesh, and AusAID. ### Author Declarations I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained. Yes The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below: The survey was reviewed and approved by UNC IRB and Bangladesh Medical Research Council. All necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived. Yes I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance). Yes I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines and uploaded the relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material as supplementary files, if applicable. Yes The documentation and survey reports are publicly accessible, and the data files are available upon request by registered UNC/MEASURE Evaluation Dataverse users.