Preterm births and stillbirths

1. five million children died before their fifth birthday (under-five mortality) in 2021.

2. Over half of these (2.7 million) occurred among children aged 1-59 months.

3. India’s share in these child mortalities was estimated at 7,09,366 under-five deaths.

4. 5,86,787 infant deaths (death before the first birthday) and 4,41,801 neonatal deaths.

• For every 1,000 live births, the infant mortality rate in Madhya Pradesh was six-fold the rate in Kerala.

1. children being ‘born too early’: born alive before 37 weeks of pregnancy are completed.

• these ‘preterm babies’ are two to four times at higher risk of death after birth than those born after 37 weeks of gestation.

• However, three out of every four deaths from preterm birth-related complications are preventable.

2. The second challenge is of stillbirths:

• A baby who dies any time after 22 weeks of pregnancy, but before or during the birth, is classified as a stillborn.

• In 2021, India's absolute estimated number of stillbirths was 2,86,482.

• One of the reasons preterm births and stillbirths do not get due attention is the lack of granular and reliable data.

• Primary healthcare system is underfunded, and some cosmetic changes alone are not enough to improve health outcomes.

• Increasing access to family planning services.

• Improving antepartum services such as health and nutrition, including the intake of iron folic acid by pregnant mothers.

• Providing counseling on the importance of a healthy diet, and optimal nutrition.

• Identification and management of risk factors.

• Detect early and manage diseases that put mothers at high risk, such as diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and infections.

• Data on preterm births and stillbirths are better recorded and reported.

• The maternal and perinatal deaths surveillance guidelines need to be effectively implemented.

• India needs to identify the hot spot clusters of stillbirths and preterm births for local and targeted interventions.

• In the National Health Policy of 2017, the government committed to investing 2.5% of the GDP in health by 2025.

• India’s health system needs more government funding.