Lucknow: To address the issue of maternal deaths in the state, the UP govt has turned to technology and is working to roll out the Mukhyamantri Matritva Suraksha Sankalp (MMSS) app. This tech solution will help the health system track pregnancies and reduce preventable deaths among expectant mothers.The move assumes significance considering UP’s high maternal mortality burden. As per the Sample Registration System (SRS) 2024-25 data, 154 women die per one lakh live births in the state during or after childbirth. The latest figure is 11 points higher than the previous estimate.To develop the app, the State Transformation Commission launched a hackathon inviting startups, developers, students, public health innovators, NGOs and academic institutions to come up with a bilingual WhatsApp-based pregnancy registration and maternal care platform capable of tracking every pregnancy in the state.“Maternal mortality is not merely a health indicator but a reflection of social development and institutional responsiveness. Leveraging technology is a need of the hour if the MMR burden is to be curbed. CM Yogi Adityanath has clearly mandated that no mother should die giving life to her baby,” said chief executive officer, State Transformation Commission, Manoj Kumar Singh.On Sunday, the second round of the hackathon was held, with 11 of the shortlisted teams (from a primary pool of 54 proposals) presenting their prototypes. The list included teams from IIT Roorkee, Icon Communications, Kaarastu Consultancy Services, Cordia Healthcare Private Limited, Plus91 Technologies Pvt Ltd, Eka.Care, Explore Digits Inc, Medalaya Healthcare, Trivaro Tech Private Ltd, Tattva Foundation and Aikyam Technologies. The top three entries will work in unison to develop the final app.Expressing confidence that technology-enabled governance could play a transformative role in improving maternal healthcare outcomes in the state, he said: “The idea is to ensure early identification of high-risk pregnancies, timely medical intervention and continuous monitoring of mothers from pregnancy till one year after childbirth. The app’s automated triage system is intended to bypass traditional bottlenecks by triggering timely referrals, emergency responses and follow-up actions automatically instead of relying on paperwork and manual coordination.”
