Kerala’s maternal mortality rate rises due to declining fertility.

• Kerala’s maternal mortality ratio, the lowest in India, is rising, causing concern for the State Health Department.

• The latest Sample Registration System bulletin on maternal mortality in India (2018-20) estimated Kerala’s MMR at 19, but the State Health Department’s actual estimates put it at 29.

• The current increase is not due to more women dying but due to fewer childbirths than ever in the State.

• The State has hit a low of 3,93,231 births from an average of 5-5.5 lakh annually earlier.

• The decline in fertility levels and changing demographics are causing an irrevocable impact on the State’s social fabric.

• The graph went below the five-lakh mark for the first time in 2016, when 4,96,262 live births were recorded.

• The last published Vital Statistics Report (2021) recorded the total number of live births as 4,19,767.

• Kerala was targeting an MMR of 20 by 2030, but this seems unlikely now due to falling birth rates.

• The impact of demographic changes like low fertility rates, immigration, and changing societal attitudes towards marriage and childbirth is being felt earlier than expected.