The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of India has declined by 83 percent at 97 per lakh live births, Health Minister J P Nadda informed parliament on Tuesday. Citing the Sample Registration System (SRS) data, Nadda said that there has been a significant decline of 33 points in MMR from 130 in 2014-16 to 97 in 2018-20.
“India has achieved the National Health Policy (NHP) 2017 target of MMR 100 per lakh live births by 2020 and is aligned towards achieving the SDG target of MMR 70 per lakh live births by 2030. Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined by 83%, compared to the global reduction of 42%. Similarly, the Under-Five Mortality Rate (U5MR) in India has decreased by 75%, exceeding global decline of 58 percent,” Nadda said.
He also said that the government launched Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan (SUMAN) initiative in 2019 with an aim to provide assured, dignified, respectful and quality healthcare at no cost and zero tolerance for denial of services for every woman and newborn visiting the public health facility.
The Health Minister also said that the Midwifery training program aims to create Nurse Practitioner Midwives (NPM) who are trained to achieve International level competence.
“Maternal healthcare is strengthened by the NPMs by providing natural birthing, alternative birthing positions, reduced medical interventions thereby ensuring a respectful, compassionate, and positive birthing experience, especially at high caseload facilities,” he said.
The Maternal Perinatal Child Death Surveillance Response (MPCDSR) software is an online data reporting platform designed to facilitate real-time monitoring by providing information to strengthen maternal and child health interventions, he informed.