Abstract

Poor maternal health poses a substantial threat to the population, health, and social wellbeing in most developing nations like India. Committing to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), India reduced maternal mortality by 75% between 1990 and 2015 through various programmes and interventions and is on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target of an MMR below 70 by 2030. Despite a substantial improvement in maternal health indicators in India over the last two decades, there are sizable heterogeneities based on caste, class, social groups, and various other forms of social exclusion. This study aims to exemplify the changes in crucial SDG indicators of maternal health over more than a decade and to decompose the co-factors behind those changes. The data used in this paper have been taken from two recent rounds of the National Family Health Survey (2005 - 06 and 2015 - 16). The predicted probability of change and Fairlie’s decomposition are used to decompose the changes in maternal health indicators over the two survey periods. The most crucial indicators to track the progress in maternal health indicators in India are antenatal care (ANC) in the first trimester, four or more ANC visits, use of skilled birth attendants, anaemia among women, and a body mass index (BMI) of 25.0 kg/m² or above, analysed in the context of various socioeconomic, behavioural, and programmatic covariates.

Keywords: Socioeconomic Inequality; SDG Indicators; Maternal Health in India

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