Kathmandu, Feb. 3 -- There are many reasons cited for the sharp reduction in Nepal's maternal mortality rate (MMR), from 901 per 100,000 live births to less than 240.

Among them are trained community health volunteers even in the remotest village, and the spread of the road network that allows women with complicated pregnancies to be taken to hospital.

But perhaps the greatest factor is the rise in female literacy in the same period which in turn reduced the total fertility rate, and raised the average age of marriage through awareness and empowerment.

However, an MMR of 240 is still unacceptably high-it translates into3 deaths at childbirth every day, 1,200 every year. For comparison, only two mothers out of 100,000 die at childbirth ...