The Government of India has been focusing on initiatives to improve maternal health indicators. Much progress has been made in ending preventable maternal deaths in the past two decades: Globally the number of women and girls who die each year due to issues related to pregnancy and childbirth has dropped considerably, from 451,000 in 2000 to 295,000 in 2017, a 38 per cent decrease.
In India the number of women and girls who die each year due to issues related to pregnancy and childbirth has dropped considerably, from 103,000 in 2000 to 35000 in 2017, a 55 per cent decrease. However, coverage of life-saving health interventions and practices remains low due to gaps in knowledge, policies and availability of resources. In a few areas there is a gap between the rich and the poor and an urban and rural divide. Access to health services is often dependent on a families’ or mother’s economic status and where they reside.
UNICEF works with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Ministry of Women and Child Development (MWCD), NITI Aayog and state governments to support planning, budgeting, policy formulation, capacity building, monitoring, and demand generation. It supports the capacities of health managers and supervisors at district and block-level to plan, implement, monitor and supervise effective maternal health care services with a focus on high-risk pregnant women and those in hard-to reach, vulnerable and socially disadvantaged communities. UNICEF supports the implementation of various interventions by Government of India
