Despite 59 % drop, India tops maternal mortality

NEW DELHI: Though India has seen a dramatic fall in maternal mortality rate (MMR) by 59% between 1990 and 2008, the country is still home to the highest number of women dying during childbirth across the world.

India's MMR stood at 570 in 1990, which fell to 470 per 100,000 live births in 1995, 390 in 2000, 280 in 2005 and 230 in 2008.

India, which has seen an annual decrease of MMR by 4.9% since 1990, now records 63,000 maternal deaths a year.

For instance, the lifetime risk of maternal death (the probability that a 15-year-old female will die eventually from a maternal cause) is 1 in 140 -- inarguably a shamefully high figure.

According to the latest report, " Trends in Maternal Mortality", released jointly by WHO, UNICEF, UNFPA and World Bank, just days before Who's Who of the Planet meet at New York for the all-important Millennium Development Goals (MDG) meeting, the number of women dying due to complications during pregnancy and childbirth has decreased by 34% from an estimated 5.46 lakhs in 1990 to 3.58 lakhs in 2008.

Even though the progress is notable, the annual rate of decline is less than half of what is needed to achieve the MDG target of reducing the MMR by 75% between 1990 and 2015.

This will require an annual decline of 5.5%. The 34% decline since 1990 translates to an average annual decline of 2.3% per year.

Shockingly, 1,000 women are still dying daily from pregnancy-related causes globally.

"Pregnant women still die from four major causes: severe bleeding after childbirth, infections, hypertensive disorders and unsafe abortion. Out of the 1,000, 570 lived in sub-Saharan Africa, 300 in South Asia and five in high-income countries. The risk of a woman in a developing country dying from a pregnancy-related cause during her lifetime is about 36 times higher compared to a woman living in a developed country," the report said.

In Asia, the number of maternal deaths is estimated to have dropped from 3.15 lakhs to 1.39 lakhs, a 52% decrease.

Among developing regions, the adult lifetime risk of maternal death is highest in sub-Saharan Africa (1 in 31), followed by Oceania (1 in 110) and South Asia (1 in 120), while the developed regions had the smallest lifetime risk (1 in 4,300).

Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "maternal health is extremely important for all of us because life begins from here. I am aware that a large number of maternal deaths take place in India, which can be prevented. By preventing the three delays in seeking health care and by addressing the causes of maternal mortality like post-partum hemorrhage, sepsis, obstructed labour and unsafe abortions, a lot of avoidable maternal deaths can be prevented."



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