Why is the maternal mortality rate high in Assam?

Heramba Nath

(herambanath2222@gmail.com)

Every citizen of the country is well aware that the progress of a country is clearly reflected in the lives of women. The progress of women contributes greatly to strengthening the socio-economic structure of a country. Is there any reason for a country where women's lives are unexpectedly, repeatedly endangered to think of itself as progressive? Indian philosophy and culture have always said that the country cannot move forward unless women are socially protected. Our country's goal is to establish the importance of women's lives and ensuring the future of women. But is this reflected in reality?

It is unfortunate that in our country women's lives are ignored amidst the talk about development. It is a shame for a country to fail to protect the lives of women despite their immense contribution to the daily lives of people. This can be called the ultimate failure of the country.

At present, when discussing all the unfilled requirements and problems of women, the problem of maternal health is probably the most important one. This is a major failure of the country's health department in the national context. In particular, the maternity health problem in Assam has attracted the attention of conscious citizens of the state because Assam currently has the highest Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the country. Recently, the figures of the report (2018-20) released by the Registrar General's Office of the country have caused concern among the people of Assam. According to the report, Assam has the highest incidence of premature maternal deaths compared to all other states in the country. According to the data, the Maternal Mortality Rate is 195 cases out of one lakh live births.

In this regard, I would like to raise a sensitive question: What is the cause of the unexpected death? As a grass-roots health worker under the state government, I strongly believe that the main cause of death is malnutrition during pregnancy. It is noteworthy that most of the maternal deaths occur in very poor families. In addition, the number of maternal cases of anemia in our state is also noticeable. One of the causes of this disease is malnutrition. Surely everyone knows that lack of a balanced diet hinders the normal process of childbearing and childbirth in women. Not only that, there are difficulties and problems in breastfeeding the newborn. Also, poor mothers lack the necessary treatment during pregnancy. Sometimes, medical assistance is not available when needed. In general, such incidents often occur among mothers from poor families in the sar areas of Assam. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), the number of women and children suffering from anemia in Assam is alarming. This number has surpassed several states in India. The official data proves that the highest number of pregnant women in Assam suffer from anemia.

Maternity alone is not the only problem for women; women's health in the state is very poor. As mentioned above, the high maternal mortality rate in the sar areas of Assam only reflects the poor social status of women. But it also reveals a picture of the society in which these unfortunate women live. Unfortunately, women in the sar areas are neglected and deprived in all aspects of life, education, culture, etc. In these areas, some uneducated husbands force their wives to work in the agricultural fields. Despite the skyrocketing development of science and technology, women in these areas are still struggling for their rights - could there be anything more unfortunate than this? It is worth mentioning that women have been struggling for their rights for many years.

Another terrible problem in these areas is that some men in the area are not interested in following family planning. They are not willing to accept the health department's explanation through awareness meetings that giving birth to more than two children is harmful to the mother's health. For maternal health reasons, a second child should be considered at least three to four years after the first child. This has been explained to them by the state health department, but they have not paid any attention to this issue.

Our country needs to recruit adequate number of gynaecologists, child specialists, surgeons, nurses etc., in hospitals to reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate because according to the data available, there is a shortage of gynaecologists, child specialists, surgeons in the country's community health centers (CHC) of more than 50 per cent. Primary health centers (PHC) do not have 30 per cent female ANMs (Auxiliary Nurse and Midwives). There is a great lack of these in our state. Therefore, the government should take steps to fill these shortages as soon as possible.

The Government of Assam needs to take special reform measures for maternity treatment in hospitals. Then both mothers and infants will surely benefit from the development.