By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Nov. 13: The concerned government bodies informed that formulation and implementation of necessary plans and policies will be sped up to ensure safe motherhood after they accumulate and analyses the data regarding Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).
Nepal plans to bring down the MMR to 70 per 100,000 by 2030 as part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The latest data regarding MMR in Nepal is 239 per 100,000; it was calculated in 2015.

The study will also provide information to policy makers and programme managers at all the three tiers of government.
According to government health officials, Maternal Mortality Study during the census is the first of its kind in the history and would provide quality data on the country’s current state regarding the issue.

Issuing a notice on Gorkhapatra daily on Friday, Minister for Health and Population (MoHP) Birodh Khatiwada has also requested the public to provide details of any maternal mortality incident (of women aged 15-49) in the family within the past 12 months to the enumerators.
The enumerators have been tasked to fill “maternal mortality index form” in such cases and provide the information either to the supervisor or local health personnel.
Trained health personnel are then sent to the respective families to collect further information of the incident through a “verbal autopsy form”.

“We will be able to gain a better understanding of why women are dying during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, and the social and clinical determinants behind it through the survey,” said Kapil Prasad Timalsena, Under Secretary at Population Management and Information Division of MoHP.
The data from the study will also provide practically useful information for investment and interventions directed towards improvement of maternal health in Nepal.
Likewise, the study will also provide information to policy makers and programme managers at all the three tiers of government.

“We only have a central data for MMR in Nepal until now. After the study, we can identify and plan targeted interventions that are successful in reducing maternal mortality and morbidity in central, provincial and local level,” Timalsena said.
According to Timalsena, the data will help the government to strengthen the weaknesses and improve the services needed to ensure safe motherhood.