Fifty Six Thousand maternal deaths are in India in a year

As per Government Reports, the Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) across the country had declined to 212 in (2007-09). WHO defines maternal mortality as the death of a woman during pregnancy or in the first 42 days after the birth of the child due to causes directly or indirectly linked with pregnancy. The Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR) of a population is the number of maternal deaths per one hundred thousand number of children born. 

Crude Birth Rate for the year 2011 has been put on record as 21.8 (births per thousand population) and the 2011 census declared India’s population as 1210.2 millions.  If one assumes that MMR remains at 212 level for India, by simple arithmetic, one gets the number of maternal deaths in India are of the order of fifty six thousand.  By the same logic, the number of maternal deaths in the states of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan total around thirty eight thousand and these comprise about 69% of total maternal deaths in India.  If we add more progressive big states like Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, the share of maternal deaths of these states is around 85%. The number of deaths in case of smaller progressive state of Kerala estimate to little over 400. 

Improving maternal health by reducing the MMR by three-quarters between 1990 and 2015 is one of the United Nations' Millennium Development Goals. India's target is to achieve the MMR of 109 by 2015.  States namely, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra have already achieved the target marked for whole India.

It could be seen that in India about 4 million women (all ages) may be dying on all counts.  Thus, little over one percent, women are dying due to pregnancy related causes.