Family Planning & Reproductive Health Go Back

India's maternal mortality ratio (MMR), as of 2015, is very high: 174 deaths per 100,000 live births compared to the Euro countries: 6 deaths per 100,000 live births. Nearly 5 women die every hour in India from complications developed during childbirth. The number of maternity-related deaths which occur in a week in India is equivalent to what occurs in a whole year in Europe. The reason behind the high fatalities among women is due to poor reproductive health practices.

1. Every 1.2 seconds a child is born in India.
2. India accounts for 20% of the world’s births and 15% of the world's deaths.
3. 1 in 20 children dies before age 5; a child born in India is 8 times less likely to live past 28 days than one born in the U.S.
4. 28% of children are underweight at birth; 15% of the total population is undernourished.
5. Most women and men do not have access to contraceptives. Only 54.8% women have access to contraceptives.

The Millennium Alliance is looking for innovations that have the potential to bring breakthrough changes in the family planning and reproductive health domain to bring a positive change in the demography of the nation.

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Maternal and Child Health

The type of care received at child birth is often critical for the health and survival of both infant and mother. A significant proportion of neo-natal deaths are attributed to poor birth practices. Only about 43% of births in rural areas and 76% in urban areas were in institutions or attended to by trained personnel.Traditional birth attendants are unable to attend to complications and health professionals are contacted too late. Both these factors point to the need to identify mothers at risk during the prenatal period. India has 20 per cent of the world’s adolescent population. With 24.3 crore people in the country in this age group, India is home to the largest number of adolescents in the world. Yet, the health indicators of the country mirror poor maternal and child health conditions, along with practices of early marriage and childbirth during adolescence in the country.

1. While annual number of births per year in India is largest in the world, with 2.59 crore children born every year, the number of deaths of children below the age of five is also the highest in India, with 12.69 lakh children dying each year in the country.
2. As of 2011, India ranks fifth from below on the list of countries with highest percentage of children born with low birth-weight. With 28 per cent of infants born underweight.
3. India has the highest population of underweight children below the age of five, with 48 per cent of Indian children being underweight.
4. Twenty per cent of children under the age of five years are suffering from severe or moderate wasting in India, which is the largest in the world. On the same note, 48 per cent of under-five children suffer from severe or moderate stunting.
5. The Infant mortality rate (IMR) was 40 (as of 2013).

The Millennium Alliance is committed towards building a society where maternal and child healthcare are made not only affordable but also accessible to all, irrespective of their social or economic category.