India had a high burden of maternal and child mortality in the 1990s, but has made significant strides in stemming the deaths, a senior health ministry official said on Thursday. ‘In the 1990s, India’s average Maternal Mortality Rate was 600, today it is at 178 (in 2011-12) which is lower than the global average of 210 in 2010. We have made progress faster than the global rate of decline,’ Additional Secretary and National Health Mission Director Anuradha Gupta said.

The maternal mortality rate refers to the number of maternal deaths per 1,000 women of reproductive age in the population. Maternal deaths are defined as the number of women who die during pregnancy or within 42 days of the termination of pregnancy.

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