Maternal Health in India: An Overview

Abstract

Health promotion of the poor is an emerging concern for policy research and action worldwide. In India, most of the population is rural and they live under poor health conditions, especially women who are the poorest of the poor. Early marriage is a common cultural practice and a woman is pressurized to undergo several pregnancies, starting from adolescence. This results in maternal deaths and women's poor reproductive health status. Gender has been ignored as a critical dimension of reproductive health, and in health and family planning programmes. This paper highlights the importance of maternal health in India by stressing on factors such as socio-cultural aspects, maternal mortality, quality of health services, unmet need for family planning and the neglected health needs of adolescents. Reduction of maternal mortality rates by three quarters is one of the Millennium Health Development Goals that India is committed to achieve by 2015. The recently launched National Rural Health Mission is making commendable efforts in strengthening the public health system in India. Implementation of all the existing health programmes has to be strengthened with an increased spending on the health. The paper further suggests the need to bring together holistic concerns for linking health to family and gender by addressing adolescents' health needs, expanding health infrastructure and empowering women. Civil society and other stakeholders could contribute towards maternal health in order to make human development sustainable.