Jeene Ki Aasha: Facts about women and children

The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) in India has declined from 301 per 100,000 live births in 2001-2003 to 254 per 100,000 live births according to Sample Registration System (SRS) Report for 2004-2006.

Of every 70 Indian girls who reach reproductive age, one will eventually die because of pregnancy, childbirth, or unsafe abortion, compared to one in 7,300 in the developed world and higher than 120 other countries including India's neighbors such as Pakistan, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, and China.

In India, a woman dies every eight minutes from pregnancy-related causes, adding up to a total of around 70,000 maternal deaths every year, making the lifetime risk of a woman dying in pregnancy 1 in 70.

In-country disparities in maternal mortality are huge. Uttar Pradesh has one of the highest MMRs, which is nearly three times as much as the MMR recorded in Tamil Nadu.

The MMRs in India have huge variations. The MMR ranges from 95 in Kerala to 480 in Assam.

In the period 2005–2006, around 47 per cent (close to half) of Indian women aged 20–24 were married by age 18. Adolescent pregnancy is a regular consequence of child marriage, and underweight mothers have a higher risk of maternal death or morbidity.

Only 39 per cent of women in India had an institutional delivery and 47 percent had their births assisted by health personnel. As many as 48 percent of pregnant women still do not have three antenatal visits during pregnancy. Only 23.1 percent of mothers receive iron and folic acid for at least 90 days during pregnancy.

India has the highest prevalence of underweight adolescent girls among the countries with available data, at 47 per cent.

56 per cent of all newborn deaths in India occur in five states: Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.

Between 2004-2008, neo-natal mortality has moved from 37/1000 live births to 35/1000 only.

Neonatal mortality rate (mortality in the newborn period) stands at 35/1000 lives births, and contributes to 66 per cent of all deaths in the first year of life.