State forms expert team to reduce maternal mortality

Kolkata: In a bid to further reduce the maternal mortality rate in Bengal, the state health department on Tuesday formed an expert team which will visit those areas where maternity deaths are being reported. The team will visit the hospitals and carry out a detailed probe in this regard.

Special antenatal clinics will be opened at all the block primary health centers where the doctors will check the health conditions of pregnant mothers at least twice a week.

Follow Ups will be done on a regular basis on those whose health condition is serious. A meeting was convened by the health secretary Narayan Swaroop Nigam at Swasthya Bhawan on Tuesday.

The health department will assess the situation at the ground level through different means. The team will ensure that expectant mothers undergo health check up properly at primary level and high risk mothers are identified. The committee will also take steps so that the number of deliveries in the primary and secondary level hospitals goes up and the quality treatment is given. Norms will be strengthened so that patients' health conditions are assessed in a better way at the medical college hospitals. Cesarean audits will be carried out in all hospitals and unnecessary cesarean deliveries have to be checked.

Health department will form a mentor group as well to monitor the progress of work. There will be one main team at Swasthya Bhawan and one team will be there in every district. Medical College Hospitals will ensure that their expert doctors will monitor the works of doctors involved in the primary and secondary health care. ASHA workers will be trained from those areas where maternal mortality rate is still higher.

Director of Health Services (DHS), Dr Ajay Chakraborty said that the mortality rate is higher among teenage mothers compared to those in other age groups. The number of teenage pregnancies is much higher in Bengal compared to other states. Steps are being taken to identify teenage couples and bring them under family planning. In the past four years, teenage pregnancy remained at around 23 percent in the past four years but in 2021-22 the number dropped to 19 percent due to the implementation of family planning, Dr Chakraborty said.

It was decided in the meeting that post delivery units will be opened in all levels of hospitals from sub-divisional hospitals up to medical colleges where delivery is done in large numbers. Trained nurses will be deployed in those units so that the health conditions of the mothers are monitored round the clock. Mentor group will hold a meeting once every month. According to the Central government figure, the maternal mortality rate stands at 98 in 2016-18.