11 August 2010
Hyderabad, India
The state does not know where 40 per cent of pregnant women are delivering. To address this issue, the health department will launch mother and child health cards which would ensure name based tracking of mothers and children.
With an approximate 15 lakh births in the state every year, the state government is printing equal number of cards which will be launched in September this year. "We do not know where 40 per cent of mothers are delivering. The cards will track mothers, ensure their anti–natal check ups, their high risk condition to prevent maternal mortality and also birth registrations. Currently, the status of birth registrations is miserable," said Dr P V Ramesh, secretary, health, medical and family welfare during a press conference on Tuesday.
This card, to be distributed among government and private hospitals, would have birth and immunisation certificates, Dr Ramesh said. The card would carry comprehensive information on the health of the mother and would be filled with details on the child’s growth till the age of five.
Dr Ramesh said the state was now going through a demographic transition moving from high birth rate to low birth rate. The fertility rate in the state has gone down from 2 to 1.8 (children per woman) between 2005 and 2008.
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