A new study calls for a word of praise for India's healthcare, as it has helped to decrease maternal deaths. It says that there is a significant drop of women dying each year during pregnancy and childbirth worldwide and India has played an important role.

The report published in the medical journal ‘The Lancet’ says that there were 408 to 1,080 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births in 1980 in India, and by 2008, it came down to 154 to 395.

The study further adds that worldwide women dying each year during pregnancy and childbirth has also dropped to 342,900 in 2008 from 526,300 in 1980. The report compliments progress made in health care by India and China which helped to drive down the overall death rates.

The research is based on information (death records, censuses, surveys and published studies) gathered on maternal mortality in 181 countries from 1980 to 2008. The study claims that the report is collected on more sophisticated statistical methods than were used in a previous analysis.

Read the entire report here.