In pictures: Fighting maternal mortality

Unicef says that several countries in South Asia are responsible for the bulk of these mostly preventable deaths.

India has the largest number of annual maternal deaths (117,000), then Afghanistan (26,000), Bangladesh (21,000), and Pakistan (15,000). In many countries, the majority of births occur at home in rural areas without qualified medical help.

Here 29-year-old Naleeb's newborn child in Kabul is not expected to survive.