Vijayawada: Andhra Pradesh Health Minister Satya Kumar Yadav on Saturday emphasised the need to reduce the number of cesarean deliveries, noting that most of the deliveries took place in private hospitals. In a release here, the minister said that 68 percent of cesarean deliveries were performed in private hospitals and underlined the need of reducing them to 40 percent.He also highlighted that the rate of teenage pregnancy in the state is about 9 percent and the target is to reduce it to 3 percent. Also Read:Doctor, nurses booked for alleged medical negligence at Wayanad HospitalYadav said the government has identified the problems of maternal health due to teenage pregnancy, malnutrition, a high number of caesarean births, a large number of family planning operations for women, and frequent deliveries. He opined that proper counselling is needed for women regarding pre- and post-pregnancy measures, reports UNI.He said that the currently implemented 180 days of maternity leave will be converted into 12 months of parenthood leave, which can be used equally by both parents.The government is ready to remove the obstacles being faced by women to emerge as an economic productive force on par with men. As part of this, Yadav said that the need to set up child care centers in every place with more than 50 employees for the care of children up to the age of six has been identified, and steps have been proposed in that direction.The Minister also stated that steps would be taken to set up one ‘working women’s hostel’ for every lakh population in urban areas.The Health Minister also announced that a ‘Center of Excellence in Reproductive Health’ will be set up under the ‘Matrutva’ scheme. Along with this, the Minister explained that a 6-month diploma course and a year-long advanced course will be started regarding these services. Also Read:Protest erupts at Jajpur Hospital after woman dies post-delivery