Medicine: does birth control save lives?

With the election of the new pope, and the use of birth control in the third world a hot topic, I decided to peruse the medical literature to see what I could come up regarding whether it is valid to say that a lack of access to contraception leads to poor maternal-fetal health. Here's a sample of what I've found. Those without Medline access may have trouble with the links.

Women in developing countries suffer considerable morbidity and mortality due to inability to control their own fertility and lack of access to family planning services. Over 500,000 deaths each year are related to pregnancy. Two thirds of these maternal deaths could be prevented by providing contraception to those women who wish to use it in developing countries.
The fifth freedom. Kincaid-Smith P. Bioethics. 1995 Jul;9(3-4):183-91.

Increased use of family planning and safe abortion might avert 100,000 maternal deaths each year due to pregnancy related causes and 200,000 maternal deaths due to unsafe abortion.
Curlin P, Tinker A. Women's health. Infect Dis Clin North Am. 1995 Jun;9(2):335-51.

And some info derived from the very important World Fertility Surveys from the early 80s, compiling data from 41 developing countries:

Only about 6000 of the estimated half million maternal deaths each year occur in developed countries. The indirect causes of maternal mortality are related to the unfavorable status of women reflected in poverty, illiteracy, lack of access to health care, and procreation patterns. The World Fertility Surveys indicate that 200,000 maternal deaths would be avoided each year if women not wanting more children had access to contraception. Contraceptive use would also prevent most of the estimated 100,000-200,000 maternal deaths from complications of abortion each year.
Aizenman DE. Impact of family planning on maternal-child health. The future of humanity depends on our children. Profamilia. 1988 Dec;4(13):28-33.

The Catholics for Choice website lists the following information, but there aren't proper citations. However, the information seems very consistent with previously properly cited work.

Access to contraception is proven to reduce maternal and infant deaths, slow the spread of HIV/AIDS, reduce the number and need for abortions, and improve the life expectancy of children. Every year:

• Half a million women die of pregnancy-related causes each year, because the pregnancies come too often, too close, too early, or too late in life.
• Seven million infants die because their mothers were not physiologically ready for pregnancy or lacked obstetric care.
• 75,000 women die worldwide from unsafe illegal abortions, according to conservative estimates.

Regardless of whether the Catholic doctrine against contraception is consistent or inconsistent with scripture, it is a public health disaster of severely epic proportions that is simply unacceptable to non-Catholics, and should be realized and considered by the Catholic church itself. A ban on contraception may very well be inconsistent with support for a 'culture of life.'