No mother should lose her life in childbirth

Every safe pregnancy is a reflection of a nation’s commitment to its women. In a country with nearly 2.9 crore pregnancies annually, ensuring safe motherhood at scale requires robust health systems, sustained political commitment, timely interventions, and equitable access to quality health care services.

- JP Nadda

The remarkable decline in maternal mortality over the past decade — among India’s most significant public health achievements — has been driven by sustained investments in maternal health, strengthened service delivery systems, community participation and a relentless commitment to ensuring that every woman has access to quality care throughout her pregnancy. At the heart of this transformation is the Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA), completing its tenth year on June 9, a nationwide movement to provide assured, comprehensive and quality antenatal care services, free of cost, to all pregnant women on the ninth day of every month during the second and third trimesters of pregnancy.

By dedicating the ninth day of every month to maternal health, the programme serves as a reminder that every pregnancy deserves continuous care, monitoring and support throughout the pregnancy period. One of the most important lessons in maternal health is that no pregnancy is entirely risk-free. Recognising that any pregnancy can become high-risk without warning, a simple yet transformative approach — identifying risks early, monitoring them closely and ensuring timely referral and management — was introduced. Every high-risk pregnancy (HRP) identified represents an opportunity to prevent a maternal death, a stillbirth, a newborn complication or lifelong disability. The focus under the PMSMA shifted from treating complications to preventing them.