What is the Maternal Mortality Ratio in India?
Hyderabad: The Registrar General of India’s Sample Registration System (SRS) released the latest special bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India (2017-19). As per the World Health Organisation, maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy […]
Hyderabad: The Registrar General of India’s Sample Registration System (SRS) released the latest special bulletin on Maternal Mortality in India (2017-19). As per the World Health Organisation, maternal death is the death of a woman while pregnant or within 42 days of termination of pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by the pregnancy or its management. Read on…
Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time per 1,00,000 live births during the same time.
India’s rank on MMR
The MMR of India has declined by 10 points. It has declined from 113 in 2016-18 to 103 in 2017-19 (8.8 % decline). The country had been witnessing a progressive reduction in the MMR from 130 in 2014-2016, 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, and to 103 in 2017-19.
India was on the verge of achieving the National Health Policy (NHP) target of 100/lakh live births by 2020 and is certainly on track to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target of 70/ lakh live births by 2030.
State-specific findings
The number of States that have achieved the SDG target has now risen from five to seven.
Kerala (30), Maharashtra (38), Telangana (56), Tamil Nadu (58), Andhra Pradesh (58), Jharkhand (61), and Gujarat (70). Kerala has recorded the lowest MMR which puts Kerala way ahead of the national MMR of 103.
Kerala’s Maternal MMR has dropped by 12 points. The last SRS bulletin (2015-17) had put the State’s MMR at 42 (later adjusting it to 43).
There are now nine States that have achieved the MMR target set by the NHP, which include the above seven and Karnataka (83) and Haryana (96).
Meanwhile Uttarakhand (101), West Bengal (109), Punjab (114), Bihar (130), Odisha (136) and Rajasthan (141) — have the MMR in between 100-150, while Chhattisgarh (160), Madhya Pradesh (163), Uttar Pradesh (167) and Assam (205) have the MMR above 150.
Scenario elsewhere
Many developed countries have successfully brought down MMR to single digits. Italy, Norway, Poland and Belarus have the lowest MMR of two, while it is seven in both Germany and the UK, 10 in Canada and 19 in the US.
Most of India’s neighbours likeNepal (186), Bangladesh (173) and Pakistan (140) — have a higher MMR. However, China and Sri Lanka are way ahead with MMRs of 18.3 and 36 respectively.
Solution
Maternal mortality in a region is a measure of reproductive health of women in the area. The WHO has already appreciated India’s efforts in reducing the maternal mortality rate. India needs to give a special focus to states with higher MMR.
Janani Suraksha Yojana under the National Health Mission to link cash assistance to institutional deliveries are some measures to improve MMR.
In Telangana, KCR Kits scheme aimed to improve mother and child healthcare services and encourage pregnant women to opt for government hospitals led to an all-time low Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and Infant Mortality Rates (IMR) in the State.
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