1 year ago
Varied Assessments of Maternal Mortality in India: Concerns Raised
Imagine doctors are trying to count how many moms die during childbirth.
They use different ways to measure this, like a ratio, a rate, and the chance a mom will die in her lifetime.
The first way, the ratio, is getting better in India overall.
However, it's hard to tell how good the numbers are for each state.
The other ways, like lifetime risk, might be better because they change depending on how many babies moms have.
Experts think we should use the lifetime risk method more because it's more reliable and can show where things need to improve, particularly for moms aged 20-35.
India's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) reached 93 as of 2019-21, a positive development.
Concerns exist about the reliability of state-level MMR estimates due to wide confidence intervals.
The maternal mortality rate (per 100,000 women) varies significantly across states.
Life-time risk of maternal mortality is 0.2% nationally, with variations across states.
Experts suggest using life-time risk as a primary indicator due to its accuracy and sensitivity to fertility.
- Who
- Udaya S. Mishra, Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Bio Statistics, International Institute for Population Sciences, Mumbai.
- What
- An evaluation of different methods for assessing maternal mortality in India.
- Where
- India
- When
- As of 2019-21.
- Why
- To assess the reliability and accuracy of different methods for measuring maternal mortality.
Concerns regarding the reliability of MMR
Emphasis on accurate indicators
Reliability of State-Level Data
Concerns regarding the reliability of MMR
State-level MMR estimates come with wide-ranging confidence intervals that make comparison impossible.
Emphasis on accurate indicators
N/A
Key facts
- MMR (2019-21)
- 93
- National Life-time risk
- 0.2%
- MMR Goal
- <70 per 1,00,000 live births (global SDG)
- MMR, Southern States
- Lowest MMR reported
- Maternal mortality rate
- 6 per 100,000 women (national average)


