Maternal mortality rate down from 384 to 103 in 20 yrs: Government

NEW DELHI: The maternal mortality rate in India has declined from 384 per one lakh live births in 2000 to 103 in 2020, whereas global MMR has declined from 339 in 2000 to 223 in 2020, as per the UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group report. The average annual rate of reduction in global MMR during the 2000-2020 period was 2.07% while India's MMR has declined by 6.36%, which is higher than the global decline.

This data from the report was shared by WCD minister Smriti Irani in response to a question in Rajya Sabha. RS member Jose K mani sought to know if govt had any justification for the report which stated that India is among 10 countries that make up 60% of global maternal deaths.

Irani also shared data on maternal deaths as per the Registrar General of India, which showed it was 130 during (2014-16); 122 during (2015-17); 113 during (2016-18); 103 during (2017-19) and 97 during (2018-20).