There has been a significant decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in the country, according to Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare Mansukh Mandaviya.

Congratulating the country on the achievement, he tweeted; ”Significant Decline in the Maternal Mortality Ratio from 130 in 2014-16 to 97 per lakh live births in 2018-20. The various healthcare initiatives of PM @NarendraModi Ji’s Govt to ensure quality maternal and reproductive care helped tremendously in bringing down MMR.”

As per the Special Bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India (RGI), the MMR of India has improved further by a spectacular six points and now stands at 97/lakh live births. The MMR is defined as the number of maternal deaths during a given time period per 100,000 live births.

As per the statistics derived from Sample Registration System (SRS), the country has witnessed a progressive reduction in MMR from 130 in 2014-2016 to 122 in 2015-17, 113 in 2016-18, 103 in 2017-19, and 97 in 2018-20.

Upon achieving this, India has accomplished the National Health Policy (NHP) target for MMR of less than 100/lakh live births and is on the right track to achieve the SDG target of MMR of less than 70/lakh live births by 2030.

The outstanding progress made in terms of the number of states which have achieved the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target, the number has now risen from six to eight leading with Kerala (19), followed by Maharashtra (33), Telangana (43), Andhra Pradesh (45), Tamil Nadu (54), Jharkhand (56), Gujarat (57) and Karnataka (69).

Since 2014, under the National Health Mission (NHM), India has made a concerted effort to provide accessible quality maternal and newborn health services and minimise preventable maternal deaths.

The National Health Mission has made significant investments to ensure provision of healthcare services, particularly for the effective implementation of maternal health programmes to accomplish the specified MMR targets.

Government schemes such as “Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakram” and “Janani Suraksha Yojana” have been modified and upgraded to more assured and respectful service delivery initiatives like the Surakshit Matritva Aashwasan’ (SUMAN). The Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) is particularly lauded for its focus on identifying high-risk pregnancies and facilitating their appropriate management.