Home births a blot on Kerala’s efforts to keep maternal, infant mortality at bay
The Hindu
State’s efforts to maintain its track record in maternal and neonatal health is being strained
As part of the World Health Day celebrations on Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) launched the ‘Healthy beginnings, hopeful futures’ campaign urging governments and the larger medical community to ramp up efforts to end preventable maternal and newborn deaths, and to prioritise women’s longer-term health and well-being.
On the very same day, Kerala woke up to the news of the death of a 35-year-old woman at Malappuram due to severe post-partum haemorrhage following a home birth — with no access to obstetric care during or after child birth.
Asma, a 35-year-old mother of four, lost her life during childbirth after the family reportedly chose to conduct the delivery at home rather than at a hospital.
Even with near 100% institutional delivery, it took Kerala years of intense and consistent efforts to identify and address various causes of maternal mortality, before it achieved the enviable maternal mortality ratio of 19 (per one lakh live births).
The State’s efforts to maintain its immaculate track record in advancing maternal and neonatal health is now being undermined by a small proportion of the population, which intentionally opts for home births, without any regard for the possible long-term impact on the health of the mothers and newborn babies.
Health Minister Veena George reacting to the incident said here on Monday that the said family had wilfully refused healthcare workers access to the woman during gestation and that the maternal death would have to be seen as “culpable homicide not amounting to murder” (manslaughter).
Asma’s was one preventable maternal death that the Health department could do little to prevent. Despite the health promotion activities for improving maternal and neonatal health at the grassroots, a section of the population opts for home births over a hospital delivery, apparently willing to accept all risks.
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