T.N.’s maternal healthcare indicators have improved in post-COVID-19 period, finds IIT-M study

A study by researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has found that Tamil Nadu’s emergency medical services and maternal healthcare system has showed significant improvement in the post-COVID-19 period, with reductions in maternal and neonatal mortality and better ambulance response efficiency.

The study, published in BMC Pregnancy and Childbirth, analysed ambulance registry data from the State’s 108 emergency response system from 2017 to 2024. The research was led by P. Kandaswamy, a retired IPS Officer, who is currently a professor of practice in the Departments of Management Studies and Data Science and AI, IIT-M, along with Ashwin Prakash, Moody’s Analytics Private Limited, Bengaluru.

According to the study, maternal mortality declined by 19% during the resilient recovery phase of 2023-24, reaching 37 deaths per 100,000 live births, substantially lower than the national average. Neonatal mortality dropped by 17%, infant mortality by 19%, miscarriages by 28%, and home deliveries by 36%.

The researchers said these improvements followed sustained investments in ambulance services, referral systems, and maternal healthcare programmes during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.

The study also found that despite a rise in pregnancy-related emergency calls during the pandemic, key emergency medical service indicators, such as ambulance response time, transfer time, and hospital handoff time, improved after the first COVID-19 wave and remained efficient through 2023 and 2024.

Tamil Nadu had witnessed severe disruptions during the second wave of COVID-19, with maternal mortality rising sharply and home deliveries increasing because of mobility restrictions and hospital avoidance behaviour. The authors clarified that the study established associations between improved emergency medical services (EMS) performance and maternal health outcomes but does not prove direct causation.