In this May 22, 2012 photo, local residents bike and drive along the main road outside Gabu, Guinea-Bissau. To reach the regional hospital in Gabu from the surrounding rural villages can be an expensive and difficult proposition for pregnant women. Most villages are only accessible by narrow, rutted dirt tracks which can become impassable in the rainy season. In Guinea-Bissau, one of the deadliest places in the world to give birth, a woman has a 1 in 19 chance of maternal death, compared to about 1 in 2,100 in the United States. Experts say women are increasingly heading to medical centers when things go awry, but logistical, financial, and cultural barriers are still keeping many pregnant women from seeking help in time. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

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