GUINEA: Free childbirth unsustainable, say critics

* Any views expressed in this article are those of the author and not of Thomson Reuters Foundation.

Maternal mortality rates in Guinea have dropped significantly over the past two decades, but efforts to speed up progress on the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce maternal mortality by three-quarters by 2015 through a ban on childbirth fees, including for Caesarean sections, are stalling due to poor planning and lack of resources, say critics.