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Gujarat: Maternal mortality – Not just anaemia, poor infra also to be blamed

Shortage of blood, ambulance worsened the situation

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Gujarat's poor record in maternal mortality is often blamed on the poor health condition of women particularly in tribal areas. 

But a study by an organisation about maternal mortality revealed that infrastructure inadequacies also compound the problem. The analysis of 124 maternal death in five states including Gujarat revealed several lacunae that were yet to be addressed. 

The report titled 'Dead Women Talking' revealed that of the 17 maternal deaths analysed in Gujarat, the majority had lack of effective care at the primary health centre level, including a shortage of blood and ambulance as one of the reasons that led to the mortality. Renu Khanna, the author of the study said that there is a need to deeply analyse the maternal deaths being reported in the state, "As of now we don't know if we have analysis available and if it is available it is not in the public domain," said Khanna. 

"Of the maternal deaths being reported it is important to know how many are Adivasi women, Dalit women and such. Even among Adivasi women, we don't know if the women were rich or poor. These set of data is very important if we have to address the issue," said Khanna. 

She added that in the analysis of maternal deaths in Gujarat, one common theme that emerged was the issue of referral. "Women who were having trouble during delivery or pregnancy were being referred from one centre to another until it became too late. We need to have some rules that ensure that the woman gets access to at least the basic minimum service when such cases come to hospitals," she said. 

Often it is the case of that the hospitals they were referred to lacked adequate blood or medicines or other facilities, she added. 

Khanna was speaking on the sidelines of a Consultation on Gender, Health and Women's Issues in Gujarat: Implications for Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 3 and 5. SDG 3 refers to health and well being and 5 refers to gender equality. 

Jeevika Shiv of Anandi that works in tribal areas on health and other issues said that the overall reporting of maternal death is also not up to the mark. "Many of the maternal deaths are reported by Asha workers. But many don't report it because they don't know whether to classify a death as maternal death," said Shiv. She said that training given to members of a women's group in Devgadh Baria about reporting maternal deaths saw a surge in families and Asha workers reporting such deaths from the area.

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