The Ministry for Women and Child Development (WCD) has set up a task force to look into factors that affect Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) among Indian women. The task force, headed by Jaya Jaitley, has been mandated with inquiring into “matters pertaining to age of motherhood, imperatives of lowering MMR, improvement of nutritional levels and related issues,'' said a statement released by the ministry.
The task force, which comprises of 10 members, will examine the correlation of the age of marriage and motherhood with the health, medical wellbeing and nutritional status of the mother and her baby during pregnancy, childbirth and afterwards. It will also suggest measures for promoting higher education among women and suggest suitable legislation or amendments in existing laws to support its recommendations. It will also have to submit a detailed roll-out plan with timelines to implement its recommendations.
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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her budget speech this year, had said that as India progressed, more opportunities would open up for women to pursue higher education and careers. “There are imperatives of lowering the MMR as well as improvement of nutrition levels. Entire issue about age of a girl entering motherhood needs to be seen in this light,'' she said. She had proposed a task force for the same.
India has made great progress in reducing its MMR in recent years, with a 77 per cent dip between 1990 (when it was 556 deaths per live births) and 2016 (130). The latest figures, released in 2019, showed a further decline to 122. The improvement has been because of better access to health facilities, institutional deliveries, and improved maternal health and nutrition. There are a slew of government programmes to address maternal health, like the Janani Suraksha Scheme. However, there are various regional disparities within the country. While Rajasthan, a state with poor demographic indices, has shown remarkable improvement in reducing maternal deaths, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh are the worst performers in this sector.
There are various factors that cause women to die at or after childbirth. The age of marriage and age at motherhood is an important factor, as are a woman’s general health, hygiene, and access to healthcare. Women also die of complications like preeclampsia, bleeding, infection and unsafe abortions. The task force will also examine Infant Mortality Rate, Chid Sex Ratio, Total Fertility Rate and Sex Ratio at birth, all of them being factors which impact a mother's health.
The task force, which will be assisted by the Niti Aayog, has to submit its report by July 31.
