FOSTERING A COMMITMENT TO STOP MATERNAL DEATHS

The Maternal Mortality Ratio for India is on the decline, but there are States that need to focus on basic and systemic issues

- 

In childbirth in India, why should 93 women lose their life while one lakh women have a safe delivery? For the time period 2019-21, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) estimate for India was 93, in other words, the proportion of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births, reported under the Sample Registration System (SRS). “Maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes”. But the MMR in India has declined over the years — it was 103 in 2017-19, then 97 in 2018-20 and now 93 in 2019-21.

To understand the maternal mortality situation better, States have been categorised into three: “Empowered Action Group” (EAG) States that comprise Bihar, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Assam; “Southern” States which include Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu; and “Other” States that cover the remaining States/Union Territories.

In the group of “Southern” States, Kerala has the lowest MMR (20) and Karnataka the highest (63). The rest of the data is Andhra Pradesh (46) Telangana (45) and Tamil Nadu (49). In the EAG States, Assam has a very high MMR (167); the rest of the data is Jharkhand (51), and Madhya Pradesh (175). Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan,

Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand are in the 100-151 range. In the category of “Other” States. Maharashtra is 38 and Gujarat 53; the rest of the data is Punjab 98, Haryana 106 and West Bengal 109.