Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 150
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Deprecated (16384): The ArrayAccess methods will be removed in 4.0.0.Use getParam(), getData() and getQuery() instead. - /home/brlfuser/public_html/src/Controller/ArtileDetailController.php, line: 151
 You can disable deprecation warnings by setting `Error.errorLevel` to `E_ALL & ~E_USER_DEPRECATED` in your config/app.php. [CORE/src/Core/functions.php, line 311]
Warning (512): Unable to emit headers. Headers sent in file=/home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php line=853 [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 48]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 148]
Warning (2): Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /home/brlfuser/public_html/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Error/Debugger.php:853) [CORE/src/Http/ResponseEmitter.php, line 181]
LATEST NEWS UPDATES | Maternal and neonatal mortality rate high despite improvement in childbirth practices -Angarika Gogoi

Maternal and neonatal mortality rate high despite improvement in childbirth practices -Angarika Gogoi

Share this article Share this article
published Published on Dec 18, 2017   modified Modified on Dec 18, 2017
-Down to Earth

A study conducted in public health centres in Uttar Pradesh shows complying to essential childbirth practices did not significantly alter maternal and perinatal mortality & maternal morbidity

Despite improvements in the quality of care during labour and delivery, checklists and coaching interventions failed to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths during childbirth, shows a study published on December 14 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The study was conducted in 2017 across 24 districts in 60 pairs of public health facilities in Uttar Pradesh. The effects of the BetterBirth programme, an eight month coaching-based implementation of the WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist, was studied on outcomes, such as perinatal death, maternal death, or maternal severe complications within seven days after delivery.

The study found that birth attendants’ adherence to essential birth practices was higher in facilities that used the coaching-based WHO Safe Childbirth Checklist programme than in those which did not. However, maternal and perinatal mortality and maternal morbidity did not differ significantly between the two groups.

“These results are important because they show that major improvements in the quality of childbirth are possible,” said senior co-author Vishwajeet Kumar, who is also executive director of the Lucknow-based Community Empowerment Lab, which works on maternal and infant health initiatives. He added that they should build on this progress and work on the missing links because a checklist cannot be a substitute for other critical components of the health system.

Centre for Catalyzing Change (CCC), a not-for profit, which works on improving maternal mortality rates in India, has emphasised the need for greater investment in programmes that improve maternal and reproductive health.

Statistics from the World Health Organization (WHO) statistics found that in 2017, approximately 830 women died every single day due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth and only 78 per cent of births were in the presence of a skilled birth attendant.

India contributes to 15 per cent of the global maternal death toll. About 44, 000 Indian women die each year due to complications arising during childbirth. About 70 per cent of these can be prevented. Over 80 per cent of maternal deaths in India, as elsewhere in the world, are due to six medical causes, including haemorrhage, eclampsia, obstructed labour, sepsis, unsafe abortion and pre-existing conditions, such as anemia and malaria.

Almost two-thirds of maternal deaths in India reportedly occur in just nine states – Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

What are the causes?

Deepa Jha, who has been working on this issue for the past decade with CCC, said, “Early marriage has serious repercussions as girls are more likely to become pregnant at a younger and riskier age.”  

The National Family Health Survey 2015-16 (NFHS-4) corroborated that more than one quarter (27 percent) of women were married before 18 years. The corresponding figure was higher in rural (32 per cent) than urban areas (17.5 per cent). Young mothers in India contribute 45 per cent of the maternal mortality (15-25 years).

There are other contributing factors, such as poor health and nutrition, lack of physical access to healthcare (including transportation and finance), medical causes and socio-cultural factors that obstruct and underplay the importance of healthcare for women.

Please click here to read more.

Down to Earth, 18 December, 2017, http://www.downtoearth.org.in/news/maternal-and-neonatal-mortality-rates-high-despite-improvement-in-childbirth-practices-59348


Related Articles

 

Write Comments

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

*

Video Archives

Archives

share on Facebook
Twitter
RSS
Feedback
Read Later

Contact Form

Please enter security code
      Close