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Kerala’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) arsenic per the latest Sample Registration System (SRS) peculiar bulletin of 2022-24 stands astatine 24 (per 1 lakh unrecorded births) and it continues to beryllium the State with the lowest MMR successful the country. At the nationalist level, the MMR stands astatine 87.
This is simply a driblet by six points arsenic the SRS bulletin of 2021-23 had shown Kerala’s MMR astatine 30.
Tamil Nadu is astatine the fig 2 spot with an MMR of 25, and seems to person made important strides successful reducing maternal deaths arsenic this is simply a driblet by 10 points from 2021-23.
Wide variance
The SRS information connected MMR, portion quoted successful authoritative documents, has ever been astatine wide variance with the MMR reported by the Health department, calculated utilizing existent enactment database figures. According to the Health department’s data, successful 2022-23, the MMR was 28, and successful 2023-24, it was 32.
With 70.8% of kid births successful the State taking spot successful the backstage wellness assemblage (NSSO data, 80th round), the publication of backstage hospitals successful ensuring that the State maintains its grounds of lowest MMR should beryllium acknowledged, adjacent though astir superior cases of delivery-related complications get pushed to the tertiary attraction maternity hospitals successful the nationalist sector.
From 2017-18, maternal deaths person been connected a dependable diminution successful the State, but successful 2021-22, erstwhile Covid-19 claimed 220 maternal lives. Over the past fewer years astatine least, the mean fig of maternal deaths successful the State annually has stood astatine 120-140.
Child births person been declining sharply successful the State implicit the past decennary but the proportionality of maternal deaths recorded successful the State has not shown arsenic drastic a decline.
High-risk pregnancies
Health officials pointed retired that the State was grappling with a concern wherein, alongside the communal causes of maternal deaths, postpartum haemorrhage, sepsis and amniotic fluid embolism, determination was an summation successful the fig of high-risk pregnancies successful the State.
The fig of women choosing to person children astatine older ages, large women with multimorbidities similar diabetes oregon hypertension and those with bosom diseases has gone up successful the State, galore gynaecologists person reported.
Kerala Federation of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists said that immoderate of the causes of maternal deaths that they identified recently, during their maternal decease auditing process, included superior conditions similar Moyamoya disease, ICSOL (intracranial abstraction occupying lesion), bacterial meningoencephalitis and monolithic hemoptysis owed to pulmonary TB.
“This alteration successful maternal illustration means that Ob-Gyns volition beryllium encountering much of hidden oregon unexpected/ unexplainable maternal complications and the wellness strategy volition request to absorption connected improving the infrastructure and quality resources for amended absorption of obstetric complications,” a elder Health authoritative said.
“Kerala had acceptable a people for itself astatine slightest a decennary oregon much ago, based connected the UN Sustainable Development Goals, that it would execute an MMR of 20 by 2030. Given the changing realities, determination is nary country for complacency,” helium said.
