‘Over 99 percent of births in Sri Lanka take place in hospitals’

A total of 1,728 still births were reported in Sri Lanka in 2015 and another 1,555 infants had died during the first week of their life. But 99.9 percent of births in Sri Lanka take place in hospitals whereas this number is only 40 percent in India and other countries in the region,Consultant Community Physician Dr.Kapila Jayaratne (MBBS,MSc, MD (Com.Med) said.

Addressing a press conference at the Health Education Bureau in Colombo yesterday, he said that no one knows what happens to 60 percent of births that take place in India and other countries in the region. In Sri Lanka, 82 percent of mothers get themselves registered with health authorities before the 12th week of their pregnancy.

According to Dr.Jayaratne, only one percent (700 to 750) births in Sri Lanka take place outside hospitals and they are unplanned deliveries taking place in vehicles etc.

Five percent of deliveries take place at private hospitals and 20,000 to 25,000 infants are born in private hospitals annually. “There were 112 maternal deaths reported in Sri Lanka in 2016 last year and most of them were due to seeking late medical treatment/assistance from a hospital,” he added. 

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