State’s MMR drops, better than national average: Study

Ranchi: The maternal mortality ratio (MMR) in Jharkhand had dropped to 56 deaths per one lakh live births between 2018 and 2020 and the figure is better than the national average and big states like Gujarat, a recent survey report released by the office of Registrar General of India has said.
According to the findings of the study (special bulletin on maternal mortality in India), Jharkhand’s MMR dropped by 15 points from the previous edition of the survey which was conducted between 2016 and 2018.
In the latest study, as many as 71 pregnant women per one lakh live births died during their pregnancies or childbirth during this period.
The Union government’s data also suggested a considerable improvement in Jharkhand’s MMR over the past decade as another edition of the study conducted between 2014 and 2016 had put the state’s MMR at 62 alongside Bihar.
As per the World Health Organization’s sustainable development goals, India and the rest of the world has to reduce the MMR to a minimum of 70 deaths per one lakh live births. Not only Jharkhand had managed to obtain the WHO’s SDG criteria but it also faired better than the national average which stood at 97. Jharkhand’s MMR is better than Bihar (118), West Bengal (103), Madhya Pradesh (173), Chhattisgarh (137), Odisha (119), the report said.