New Delhi: Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in 448 of India’s 640 districts is higher than the target set under the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). This has been revealed in the first study of MMR at the district level in India. The study, published on Tuesday in the journal PLOS Global Public Health, said that among states, Arunachal Pradesh performed the worst. The scientists analyzed data on 61,982,623 live births and 61,169 maternal deaths recorded in the Health Management Information System (HMIS) during 2017-2019.
HMIS is a web-based monitoring system implemented by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare. Since the 2011 population data was used, only 640 districts were captured instead of 773 districts in 2022. “The results of the study suggest that in India, 70 percent of the districts (448 out of 640) recorded an MMR greater than 70,” the researchers said. The Maternal Mortality Rate is the death of mothers per one lakh births due to complications of fertility or pregnancy. The MMR for 2030 has been set at 70 under the Sustainable Development Goals. India’s MMR is currently 113. The study said that in the case of maternal deaths, 15 percent of mothers in the world died in India. In this case, it is second only to Nigeria (19 percent).
Researchers from the Mumbai-based International Institute of Population Sciences, University of Portsmouth, UK, and the University of Western Australia found the highest MMR in Arunachal Pradesh (284) and lowest in Maharashtra (40). The maternal mortality rate in the study was 143, Chhattisgarh (144), Jammu and Kashmir (151), Delhi (162), Rajasthan (162), Bihar (164), Madhya Pradesh (179), Lakshadweep (208), Uttar Pradesh (208). ) and 209 were found in Assam.
The study authors said in the journal, “India’s sample registration system has shown a decline in MMR per 100,000 births, from 130 to 113. According to the researchers, the Kinnaur and Lahaul-Spiti districts of Himachal Pradesh have the lowest MMRs. He said that the maternal mortality rate is estimated to be more than or equal to 210 in 115 districts, 140-209 in 125 districts, and 70-139 in 210 districts. At the same time, in only 190 districts, the maternal mortality ratio is less than 70.
