Tamil Nadu sees 50% surge in institutional deliveries, says health department

CHENNAI: Pregnancy and Infant Cohort Monitoring and Evaluation (PICME) registrations in government hospitals have witnessed around 50 per cent surge in the last two months, the State Health Department said in a statement.

Pointing out that the delivery entries in the PICME portal were less than 20 per cent in October 2024, the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine said the delivery entries in government institutions increased to 70 per cent in December 2024.

The maternal mortality rate in Tamil Nadu has come down by 17 per cent from April to December 2024, compared to the same period of the last year 2024. The maternal mortality rate has dropped from 48.2 per 1,00,000 live births in April-December 2023 to 40.7 per 1,00,000 live births in April-December 2024.

The Health Department also audited 45 maternal death cases within 48 hours during November and December to facilitate immediate action. The task force to mitigate maternal mortality rate, at a meeting held on Friday, discussed the efforts being taken to strengthen pre-birth planning for high-risk mothers.

The task force emphasised referring high-risk pregnancies to tertiary care institutions. It noted that less than five per cent of high-risk deliveries are being conducted at Primary Health Centres as the CEmONC centres regularly monitor the pre-birth planning of high-risk antenatal mothers.

Health Secretary Supriya Sahu stated that the availability of real-time data has helped in better planning, and the 102 State and 46 district call centres actively monitor high-risk mothers in their final month of pregnancy,” she added.