Utilization of maternal and child health care services and its linkages with maternal deaths in India

Mukesh Ranjan, International Institute for Population Sciences (IIPS)

The paper is an attempt to explore the status of maternal health and utilisation of maternal health care services among maternal deaths reported households in India and its regions. District Level Household and Facility Survey- 2007-08 data reiterates that maternal deaths are significantly high in rural areas especially in high focus northern states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar. Religion-wise differentials in maternal death was not pronounced but scheduled caste and scheduled tribe have reported more number of maternal deaths in comparison to other than scheduled caste/tribe women.There is a wide disparity in maternal mortality ratio within various regions. Most of the deaths were reported during pregnancy (56 percent). Analysis reveals that contraceptive coverage in households reported maternal deaths is very low. Further, utilization of health care services is also low among households reported maternal deaths. Key words: Maternal Deaths;Utilization of Health Care Services