The Nepali Health Ministry has initiated provisions to grant medical allowances to pregnant women to encourage them to give birth under the assistance of skilled birth attendants.

According to the National News Agency RSS Saturday's report, the provision, aimed to promote safe maternity services, could also reduce expenditure incurred in medical centers and fees to skilled birth attendants at the time of delivery.

The Nepali government has commenced to provide stipulated lump- sum to enable women to bear cost for delivery in medical centers. This service is expected to help in enhancing skilled maternity health care and reducing maternal mortality rate and provide neo- natal health care to the newborn babies at the time of birth, the RSS said.

The allowance is provided to women who give birth at district hospitals, primary health centers and medical centers where safe maternal health care services are available.

The rate of allowance is 1,500 Nepali rupees (20.5 U.S. dollars) in districts located in mountainous region, 1,000 rupees (13.6 dollars) in hilly region and 500 rupees (6.8 dollars) in Tarai plain region in southern Nepal.

Women, who give up to two births and reside in 25 districts having least human development indices, are eligible for such allowance with partial transportation costs, according to the RSS.

The government's figures put Nepal's maternal mortality rate at 530 per 100,000 births due to complication at the time of pregnancy, delivery and post delivery.

Pregnancy related complications kill over 4,500 Nepali women every year, close to 12 deaths every day, one every two hours.

Nepal has high mortality ratio among the newborn babies. Here 39 newborn babies die among 1,000 births. Still nine women out of 10 give birth at their home without help of skilled birth attendants.

The provision of allowance has been implemented in governmental health centers located in districts of hill and mountainous regions, the RSS reported.

Source: Xinhua