Maternal mortality rate improves marginally in UP, still miles to go

LUCKNOW: The number of women dying during childbirth in the state has recorded a decline. According to data released by registrar-general of India, UP’s maternal mortality ratio declined to 197 points per one lakh live births in 2016-18 from 216 in 2015-17.
This translates into saving over 990 lives every year. As per available data, 11,880 maternal deaths were reported in 2015-17 in the state which came down to 10,890 in 2016-18. This means that nearly 2,000 additional women survived in this duration.

Despite the improvement, UP’s MMR is the second highest in the country. Assam leads on the count. However, in absolute numbers, UP remains the biggest contributor of maternal deaths in the country. Of approximately 30,000 maternal deaths in India, one-third deaths take place in UP.
Experts attribute the shift to factors like increased awareness amongst communities on importance of home deliveries, incentives through JSY andPMMSY, improved referral system, increased emphasis on quality of care in labour rooms and better ambulance network.
“This is good news in times of crisis,” said additional chief secretary, health and family welfare,Amit Mohan Prasad while sharing the information on Thursday. He added that improvement in maternal health comes back with multiple dividends.
A maternal death is defined as loss of a woman’s life during pregnancy 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.
The RGI’s report clearly reflects that while UP’s performance cannot be undermined, competitors have done better. Take the example of Rajasthan which recorded a decline of 22 points -- an improvement of over 11.8% against UP’s improvement of 8.8%.
Maternal mortality is a crucial development indicator. Measured in terms of the number of women dying during childbirth per one lakh live births, MMR reflects on any country’s human development index. While the MMR in developed countries like the United States of America and the United Kingdom is below 15, it is as high as 781 in the sub-Saharan country of South Sudan.
Experts expressed happiness over the lives saved, but emphasized that efforts need to be accelerated further. “Uttar Pradesh’s decline in MMR in terms of numbers (19 points) is the second highest in the country. This reflects the emphasis placed in recent years on encouraging institutional deliveries, improving referral systems and quality of care in facilities. However, we are still amongst the states on the higher end of the spectrum in terms of MMR. The state is on the right path and efforts need to be accelerated further. We need to make sure that gains made are sustained even during and afterCovid,” said Dr Kanupriya Singhal, specialist health, Unicef, UP.
The bulletin also revealed that MMR had increased in several states such as Chhatisgarh, Punjab, Uttrakhand and West Bengal.