Punjab Health Department has announced the statewide expansion of proven technology-based interventions at government health facilities to reduce the Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in the state. The decision has been taken after viewing the positive results of a pilot project launched to curb maternal deaths, particularly those caused by Postpartum hemorrhage (PPH) in the state.

 

Punjab Health and Family Welfare Minister Dr Balbir Singh, while addressing a state-level workshop on ‘Tech Interventions for Maternal Mortality Reduction’, at Chandigarh yesterday, said that the state will adopt every proven technological solution to curb maternal deaths, particularly those caused by post-partum haemorrhage. Punjab currently records an MMR of 95 per one lakh live births, compared to the national average of 88.

 

Speaking on the occasion, Executive Director in Punjab State Council for Science and Technology (PSCST), Pritpal Singh, said, Punjab has succeeded in saving over 300 lives of mothers suffering from critical PPH conditions by using Non-Pneumatic Anti-Shock Garments (NASG) and Uterine Balloon Tamponade (UBT) at delivery points of 12 districts of Punjab in Phase I and II.

 

The workshop was organised by the council in collaboration with AIIMS Bathinda and the Department of Health and Family Welfare.