A NEW study says an African woman is roughly 130 times more likely to die from pregnancy and childbirth complications than a woman in Europe or North America, the United Nations’ population fund UNFPA reported today.

UNFPA’s latest “State of world population” report also estimates that nearly 500 maternal deaths per day occur in countries with humanitarian crises or conflicts, and reveals that women of African descent in the Americas are more likely to die giving birth than white women.

“Sweeping global gains in sexual and reproductive health and rights over the last 30 years are marred by an ugly truth — millions of women and girls have not benefited because of who they are or where they were born,” UNFPA said in a statement.