ON THE occasion of National Safe Motherhood Day on Sunday, experts said maternal health and family planning services should not be compromised and given due priority even in emergency situations like the COVID-19 pandemic. National Safe Motherhood Day is observed every year on April 11 on the birth anniversary of Kasturba Gandhi, wife of Mahatma Gandhi.

 

The experts also called for strengthening the country’s health system. “We have witnessed a steep rise in maternal deaths during the COVID-19 pandemic. The nationwide lockdown disrupted maternal health services, which resulted in a decline in institutional deliveries as well as women’s access to prenatal and antenatal services,” said Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation of India and a public health expert.