KOLKATA: Eighty-nine newborns, including 10 in a single day, died at the state-run Malda Medical College and Hospital (MMCH) in West Bengal in 28 days since 1 August, exposing vulnerabilities in the neonatal care system in government facilities in the state.
An inquiry committee comprising medical experts formed by the state government visited the premier teaching hospital in north Bengal on Saturday and initially found that malnutrition might have caused the deaths of the newborn babies.
Dr Pralay Acharya, additional director of health services and chairman of the inquiry committee, told reporters, “Eighty-nine newborn babies have died so far in the hospital since August 1. There might be several reasons behind the deaths of so many babies, but initially we think that malnutrition is the main factor.”
“We have visited concerned units like maternity, newborn care, etc and spoken to doctors at the hospital. The inquiry team has also discussed with the hospital authorities and officials in the Malda district health administration on different issues to prevent crib deaths,” Dr Acharya said.
Alarmed with such a huge number of crib deaths within 28 days, the Swasthya Bhaban, the state health department headquarters at Salt Lake, sent the inquiry team comprising a gynaecologist and obstetrician, a neo-natal care expert and a paediatrician to take stock of the situation after conducting an in-the-spot inquiry.
Prof (Dr) Prasenjit Bar, medical superintendent cum vice principal (MSVP) of the MMCH, on 26 August told reporters, “Ten newborn babies died on 12 August at the hospital. Eight among the 10 babies were brought to our hospital in critical condition from several other government healthcare centres and nursing homes across Malda district.”
“Only two out of the 10 babies were born in our hospital. Four among the 10 deceased had congenital heart disease, two had severe respiratory distress, and the remaining four had other serious complications,” Prof Bar had said.
“Similarly, 44 newborns were rushed to our hospital in very critical conditions from elsewhere as referral cases. The remaining 16 babies were born in our hospital,” he had added.
The officials at the state secretariat Nabanna and Swasthya Bhaban had held a virtual conference with the MMCH principal, MSVP, concerned doctors and other administrative officers of the teaching hospital seeking case reports on the deceased newborns, sources said.
According to the MMCH sources, jaundice, acute respiratory problems, congenital heart and underweight ailments have been shown as causes of death of the babies.
But the Nabanna and Swasthya Bhaban, during the video conference held earlier, were not satisfied with the cause of death of so many babies claimed by the MMCH authorities.
Rattled by the deaths of babies, the state government has decided to streamline the referral system of ailing babies from primary, secondary health care facilities, private hospitals and nursing homes to tertiary hospitals like state-run medical colleges across the state.
The health department will verify the pre-natal and ante-natal care facilities in secondary and private healthcare establishments, mainly nursing homes mushrooming across districts in the state.
It’s learnt that the different health teams have separately started inspections in around 20 private hospitals and nursing homes in several districts to check newborn care setup, including post-delivery nursery rooms, infrastructure facilities and human resource strength like experienced doctors and nurses.
District magistrates have already been instructed in this regard by the Swasthya Bhaban, it’s learnt.