Nepal Makes Significant Strides in Maternal and Newborn Health

Lalitpur. A public report highlights that Nepal has made remarkable progress in maternal and newborn health. This was stated in a joint report by the Chaudhary Foundation and the Ministry of Health and Population on the availability and preparedness of services for maternal and newborn care in Nepal’s birthing centers.

The maternal mortality rate, which was 239 per 100,000 live births in 2016, decreased to 151 in 2022. Similarly, according to government data, the newborn mortality rate, which was 39 per 1,000 in 2001, decreased to 21 in 2022.

There are 2,848 birthing centers across Nepal, with 2,831 currently operational. These centers provide antenatal care, normal delivery, postnatal care, and basic newborn services. The study report covered 222 birthing centers in 45 districts.

Dr. Tanka Barakoti, Director General of the Department of Health Services, stated that the government aims to ensure access to quality healthcare for all. Dr. Barakoti added that additional human resources, equipment, and infrastructure are needed to expand health services to rural areas.

“To make healthcare services quality in rural areas, additional human resources, equipment, and infrastructure are necessary,” he said. He further mentioned that the suggestions from the study will be useful in formulating future policies and plans.

Similarly, Dr. Gauri Pradhan Shrestha stated that there is a shortage of human resources in Nepal. “We still have a lack of human resources in our country. That’s why we haven’t been able to do as well as we wanted,” she said.

Dr. Viveklal Karna, Director of the Family Welfare Division, stated that the work done under public-private partnerships in the health sector will make it easier and more effective for the government to achieve its goals. Nirvan Chaudhary, Chairman of the Chaudhary Foundation, informed that they are working in various fields of education and health, and committed to further work in the future to implement the suggestions highlighted by the study in the area of maternal and newborn health.

Researcher Dr. Khem Pokharel stated that the weaknesses identified during the study can be improved. Dr. Pokharel said, “How to reduce newborn and maternal mortality rates is the most important thing. However, it is not uniform across all provinces.”