ALTHOUGH stillbirth count in Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) has come down in last five years, the cause of concern is more deaths of females as compared to males. There is rise in neonatal deaths while the number of maternal deaths is fluctuating in last five years. Abhay Kolarkar, through Right to Information Act (RTI), has sought the data of deliveries, maternal deaths, neonatal deaths, stillbirths and sent it to ‘The Hitavada’. If one has a look at statistics of stillbirths, the number has been reduced, with 435 in 2018-19 to 181 in 2022-23. In 2019-20, GMCH registered 213 stillbirths, in 2020-21 the number was 203, and 194 stillbirths were recorded in 2021-22. Dr Sushma Deshmukh, President of Nagpur Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society (NOGS) said, “The stillbirths has become a cause of worry all over the world. Stillbirths are neglected as the babies die before or during delivery. Stillbirths were not given due importance till recent past. There are several reasons of stillbirths. Basically, it has relation with mother’s health, genetic factor, but cause of some cases remained unexplained.”

 

A stillbirth is the death or loss of a baby before or during delivery. Both miscarriage and stillbirth describe pregnancy loss, but they differ when the loss occurs. From April-March 2018 to April-March 2023, more female deaths were reported in stillbirth cases. In 2018, GMCH reported 240 female deaths while the number of male deaths was 199. In 2019, the number of female lost lives in stillbirth were 174 while the male number was 133. In 2020, GMCH reported 182 female deaths as compared to 151 male deaths. In 2021, the ratio of stillbirths of male to female was 73:119 and in 2022, it was 95:101. There is a reduction in number of deliveries during coronavirus pandemic-- in 2020-21 and 2021-22. In 2018-19 and 2019-20, the GMCH registered 12,487 and 12,143 deliveries. In next two years, the deliveries reduced to 7,965 and 8,656 respectively. Similarly, the maternal deaths too witnessed reduction during 2020-21 and 2021-22-- 85 and 112 respectively. In 2018-19 and 2019-20, 134 maternal deaths were registered in each year. There is a slight rise in 2022-23, as 116 maternal deaths have been recorded.