Karnataka’s MMR on steady decline; reduces to 58 per lakh live births in 2020-22

Karnataka's Maternal Mortality Ratio declines steadily, ranking 8th in the country, showing progress towards Sustainable Development Goal target.

Indicating a steady reduction in the number of women dying during childbirth, Karnataka’s Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) has further declined by five points from 63 per lakh live births in 2019-21 to 58 in 2020-22.

However, according to the latest Sample Registration System 2020–22 bulletin for the MMR released by the Registrar-General of India on June 13, Karnataka’s MMR continues to be the highest among the five southern States.

Karnataka figures for 2020-22 show that the decline has been steady from 69 in 2018-20 to 63 in 2019-21 and 58 in 2020-22. In terms of percentage, the State’s MMR has dropped by 8%, recording the third highest percentage dip among the southern States.

Although this data pertains to maternal mortality in the State before last year’s Ballari maternal deaths, the State Health Department is viewing it as a “positive trend”.

“This latest data shows a general downward trend over the past few years, suggesting long-term improvement, even if the Ballari incident was a tragic outlier. This reflects better access to antenatal care, institutional deliveries, or emergency obstetric services. The Ballari maternal deaths should not be seen as an indicator of the Statewide decline in healthcare quality,” said Rajkumar N., State Deputy Director (Maternal Health).

Karnataka’s MMR has been declining since 2016. It had reduced by nine points from 92 per lakh live births in 2016–18 to 83 in 2017–19, during the pre-COVID-19 period. In 2014–16, the State’s MMR was 108, and it reduced to 97 in 2015–17.

Although the decline rate is less than half of what was achieved in 2018-20 — when the MMR had reduced by 14 points from 83 per lakh live births in 2017-18 to 69 in 2018-20 — Karnataka is one of the eight States in the country that has achieved the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target much ahead of schedule.