A recent health survey revealed that 47 per cent child birth in the country is now taking place in different health facilities, a big jump of 24 per cent compared to 2010 when only 23 per cent childbirth used to take place in such centers.
The information came out at a dissemination programme of Bangladesh Maternal Mortality and Health Care Survey (BMMS), 2016, conducted by National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT) at Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel in the city.
State Minister for Health and Family Welfare Zahid Maleque was the chief guest at the programme while NIPORT Director General Rownaq Jahan, Secretary of Medical Education and Family Welfare Division Faiz Ahmed, Director General of Health Services Prof Abul Kalam Azad and NIPORT Director M Rafiqul Islam Sarker were present, among others.
The survey said, "The percentage of women receiving the complete continuum of maternity care (antenatal care, delivery care and postnatal care from medically trained providers) has increased significantly from 19 per cent in 2010 to 43 per cent in 2016."
The Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) in Bangladesh declined between 2001 and 2010 but has stalled now. The MMR estimated from the BMMS-2016 was 196 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births, almost identical to the estimate of BMMS 2010.
In 2016, 50 per cent of births were attended by medically trained personnel, compared to 27 per cent in 2010, said the report.
The study emphasized on improving the quality of maternal health care saying, "The quality of health care was generally poor in Bangladesh and increased coverage was expected to reduce MMR by increasing the likelihood in detecting complications in early stages."
This was the third BMMS survey, aimed at providing precise estimate of maternal mortality ratio in Bangladesh for monitoring Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and goals of health sector programs and five-year plans of the government.
Like previous surveys, BMMS 2016 was conducted by the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT) with the help of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare under the Operational Plan of Training, Research and Development (TRD) of the Health, Population and Nutrition Sector Development Program (HPNSDP), MEASURE Evaluation, UNC-CH, USA, the International Centre for Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), Bangladesh.
Source: BSS