Validating infant and maternal mortality reporting in Doddaballapur taluk of Bangalore Rural district – a pilot study

Introduction Infant and maternal deaths are highly under-reported in the state. Incentives are given to the community to encourage reporting of infant and maternal deaths but this has not helped much. Consequently infant mortality rate (IMR) and maternal mortality ratio (MMR) reported by various districts are low and are not comparable to surveys such as the sample registration survey (SRS) or national family health surveys. This is affecting the quality of the planning undertaken at districts and state. The IMR reported by districts range from 8 to 20 deaths per 1000 live births, whereas according to SRS 2010 it is 38 per 1000 live births for Karnataka. Similarly MMR reported by districts is usually less than 100 maternal deatths for 100,000 live births, while by SRS 2007-09 it is 178 for Karnataka.