Fri Apr 04 16:48:03 UTC 2025: ## Karnataka Implements Recommendations to Curb Maternal Mortality
**Bengaluru, April 4, 2025** – The Karnataka government has begun implementing recommendations aimed at drastically reducing maternal mortality rates following a report analyzing 464 maternal deaths between April and December 2024. A team of health experts, formed in response to a cluster of deaths linked to contaminated intravenous fluid in Ballari last November, audited the cases and issued a 27-point plan.
Key recommendations include improved antenatal care (ANC) with increased monitoring and counseling, especially for high-risk pregnancies. This includes mandatory phone calls to high-risk mothers during the eighth and ninth months of pregnancy. The report also mandates a minimum hospital stay of three days post-natural delivery and five to seven days post-cesarean section. Furthermore, the creation of personalized birth plans, including transport arrangements, for each pregnant woman is advised.
The investigation implicated contaminated Intravenous Ringer Lactate from a West Bengal pharmaceutical company in at least 18 of the maternal deaths. The company has since been blacklisted by the state.
Health Minister Dinesh Gundu Rao stated that the government is already acting on several recommendations, including ensuring high-risk pregnancies receive expert consultations, procuring necessary testing kits, and supplying Ferric carboxymaltose (FCM) to address widespread anemia among pregnant women. The report highlights anemia as a significant contributing factor to maternal mortality.
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