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majority of expecting mothers in the country lack information about dangerous symptoms during their pregnancies as health workers do not give them enough information during regular checkups.

Though such knowledge can save women’s lives both during pregnancy and childbirth, many health providers fail to warn women about signs of dangerous pregnancies.

“Maternal deaths are actually preventable. Unfortunately, not all pregnant mothers who seek antenatal care at health facilities receive thorough information on the signs of harm during pregnancy,” said the Health Ministry’s director general of nutrition and maternal and child health, Slamet Riyadi Yuwono.

According to ministry statistics, only 44.5 percent of pregnant women get information on symptoms that might indicate early complications such as pre-eclampsia, tubal pregnancy, stillbirth and premature labor.

In Yogyakarta, 58.9 percent of pregnant women get information about problems during pregnancy, the highest in the country.

In 2011, just 56 maternal deaths were recorded in the province.

Several other provinces, such as Aceh, experience high maternal death rates due to the poor coverage of comprehensive prenatal counseling.

In 2011, 156 mothers in Aceh died during childbirth. The Health Ministry recorded that only 31.8 percent pregnant women in the province received adequate counseling during their pregnancy.

Slamet said adequate information about troubling symptoms could help health workers prepare preventive measures.

“A pregnant woman can seek help from healthcare providers right away once she has trouble during her pregnancy,” he said.

Of the 474 maternal deaths that occurred in Banten in 2006, 45 percent resulted from delays in deciding to seek medical treatment, a study found.

“It’s not just about how to encourage as many people as possible to go to healthcare facilities. It’s more about how they can get comprehensive prenatal care, which includes adequate information on the danger signs of a pregnancy,” said Slamet.

Pregnancy still puts the lives of women in many areas in the country at risk, and the current rate of progress in reducing maternal deaths is below the target set to meet the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

To achieve the MDG on maternal health, Indonesia needs to reduce its maternal mortality rate to 102 per 100,000 live births in 2015 from its current level of 228 per 100,000 live births.

In Indonesia, the most common causes of maternal death are severe bleeding, hypertension, infection, difficult delivery and abortion.

“The proportion of deaths during childbirth, both at the time of labor and within 24 hours after delivery, is very high and [at that point] most of these complications cannot be predicted,” said the ministry’s director of maternal health Gita Maya Koemara Sakti.