National Safe Motherhood Day is celebrated every year on April 11 because of the initiative of the White Ribbon Alliance India (WRAI) to inform women and provide for healthcare habits and for the availability and accessibility of various healthcare programs during pregnancy, childbirth and postnatal services.
WRAI was propelled when The Center for Catalysing Change brought together a group of individuals and organisations in 1999 to campaign for healthy parenthood. In 2003, upon the request of WRAI, the Government of India declared the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi as National Safe Motherhood Day.
Every year in India, about 30 million women experience pregnancy and 26 million have a live birth. Maternal mortality is characterized as the death of a woman during pregnancy, labour or within about a month and a half after birth. India adds to a dominant part of maternal mortality trouble in the region. India is one of the most high-risk places in the world to give birth. Maternal mortality ratio, an important indicator of maternal health in India is estimated to be 174 per 100,000 live births (World Health Statistics 2016). Every year 44,000 women die in India due to improper care during the pregnancy. India accounts for 15% of total maternal deaths worldwide.
It is critical to develop a continuum of care that improves access to and utilisation of skilled care during pregnancy, delivery, and the postpartum period in order to improve maternal and new-born health by reducing mortality and morbidity associated with pregnancy and childbirth.
Safe motherhood entails ensuring that all women have access to the knowledge and resources they need to go about their daily lives in a safe manner. It includes:
Prenatal care (care during pregnancy) and counseling with focus on high-risk pregnancies
Education on safe motherhood
Promotion of maternal nutrition
Adequate delivery assistance in all cases
Provisions for obstetric emergencies including referral services for pregnancy, childbirth and abortion complications
Postnatal care (care after childbirth)
Maternal Mortality facts (WHO)
Approximately 830 women die every day from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth.
Maternal mortality is higher in women living in rural areas and among poorer communities.
As compared to women, young adolescents face a higher risk of complications and death as a result of pregnancy.
We can't overlook the fact that professional prenatal, postnatal, and postpartum treatment can save women's and new-born babies' lives.
As part of the Sustainable Development Goals in between 2016 and 2030, the target is to reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100000 live births.
Common causes of maternal death
Medical causes
Haemorrhage (antenatal during labour and postnatal)
Obstructed labour
Infection or sepsis
Toxaemia
Anaemia
Iron deficiency
Social causes
Early marriage and pregnancy
Preference for sons
Lack of information about danger signs and symptoms
Delay in referral
Repeated child birth
Availability of healthcare facilities
Deficient medical treatment of complications
Lack of essential supplies and trained health personnel at the centers
Non sympathetic attitude of health personnel.
Inadequate action taken by medical personnel
How can these deaths be prevented?
Infection: It can be avoided by maintaining good hygiene and taking timely care.
Severe bleeding: It's one of the leading causes of death in women. It can be avoided by administering oxytocic immediately after childbirth, which decreases the risk of bleeding.
Pre-eclampsia: It should be detected and appropriately managed before the onset of convulsions and other life-threatening complications. Drugs like magnesium sulphate can help to reduce the risk.
WRAI has been instrumental in giving life-sparing medications for the women of India's towns and villages.
In wake of NSMD, the legislature of India has fortified execution of Indira Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojna (IGMSY) maternity advantage.
Written by-
Tamanna Thakur
Tamanna is a woman who believes that she was born with enhanced sensibilities of the perils of life, and so she constantly finds herself asking existential questions. Baking and films are the two things that provide her respite from the monotony of deep thought.
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