11 April: National Safe Motherhood Day

• 12 Apr 2022

• National Safe Motherhood Day is observed every year on April 11.
• It is aimed at raising awareness about the care that a pregnant woman needs before, during, and after childbirth.
• National Safe Motherhood Day also aims to help achieve the third Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), wherein countries have united to achieve a new target to accelerate the decline of maternal mortality by 2030.
• The target of this SDG is to reduce the global MMR to less than 70 per 100,000 births.
• India's maternal mortality ratio (MMR) has improved to 103 in 2017-19, from 113 in 2016-18. This is according to the special bulletin on MMR released by the Registrar General of India March 14, 2022.

Major Initiatives by the Govt.

• To ensure safe motherhood for women, there have been many national initiatives started by the government. They include:
• Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA)
• Janani Shishu Suraksha Karyakaram (JSSK)