New Delhi - A woman dies every seven minutes in India because of
complications during pregnancy or childbirth, the government said in a
report Saturday.
The number of women dying each year from pregnancy
and childbirth is 77 000, the Registrar General of India said in a
report, three times higher than a government target.
About 301
women in 100 000 births die each year due to "pregnancy-related
complications" despite the government's goal of bringing the mortality
rate below 100, said the registrar general.
"In other words, one
woman is dying every seven minutes due to complications related to
pregnancy and childbirth," said the body which records births and
deaths.
Rundown maternity services and near-absent
mother-and-childcare centres and rural health facilities contributed to
the huge death rate of mothers, the body said.
The report came
after India's ruling Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi said on
International Women's Day on Thursday that problems faced by women could
not "be seen in isolation and their development is linked to the national
economy."
The report added: "Despite all the maternal health
programmes and improvement in primary healthcare system, very few states
are close to this desired figure (of keeping the mortality rate below 100
per 100 000
births)." |