At 111, maternal mortality in Punjab dips for 2nd straight year

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), MMR, a key health indicator for mothers, refers to the number of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births in a given time period

Punjab’s maternal mortality ratio (MMR) saw a dip for the second consecutive year, falling from 117 in 2023-24 to 111 in 2024-25, according to data from the state health department. However, it is still worse than the national average that stands at 93.

However, it is still worse than the national average that stands at 93 (HT File)

HT has accessed a copy of the data.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), MMR, a key health indicator for mothers, refers to the number of maternal deaths per 1,00,000 live births in a given time period.

Officials attribute the decline to the strengthening of maternal care services and improvements of institutional deliveries across the state.

A senior health officer said, “The decline in MMR is a positive sign for the health of mothers. However, it is still above the national average. Several districts have MMR above 150, which is concerning. We are focusing on early detection of high-risk pregnancies and have been regularly holding maternal death reviews to identify lapses.”

According to the data, Punjab’s MMR was 128 in 2020 -21, which rose to 129 in 2021-22. In 2022-23, the MMR slightly decreased to 121.

Even as the state’s MMR improved, health officials expressed concern over “alarmingly” high rates in several districts.

In contrast to the state’s improvement, Ferozepur’s MMR jumped from 238 in 2023-24 to 440 in 2024-25. Similarly, Sangrur’s MMR almost doubled in this time, from 124 in 2023-24 to 238 in 2024-25.

Fatehgarh Sahib, Barnala, Gurdapur, Jalandhar and Hoshiarpur showed an increase as well. As many as 11 out of the 23 districts reported MMR above 100, the data reveals.

Punjab health officials said nearly 44% of the deaths were caused by non-obstetric reasons, meaning any causes of complications or problems during pregnancy that are not directly related to the pregnancy itself or the delivery process.

Around 29% of the deaths occurred owing to obstetric haemorrhage and other obstetric reasons. Hypertensive disorder led to 13% of maternal deaths in Punjab.

Maternal deaths include those from causes related to or aggravated by pregnancies or their management (excluding accidental or incidental causes), childbirth and within 42 days of termination of pregnancies.